Burberry to move further upmarket as profits jump

0 Plans to overhaul the business came alongside news of a 26% rise in interim profits to £128m Burberry has announced a store closure programme as part of a strategic overhaul that will see it focus its efforts solely on luxury shoppers.

The plans are part of new chief executive Marco Gobbetti’s vision for the company, in a bid to “sharpen” the brand’s positioning.

Burberry did not say how many stores it will “rationalise” or the number of staff affected by the move, but the closures will mainly affect its wholesale arm, which represents 30 per cent of the group’s business, and will initially focus on the US and Europe. The group made the announcement alongside first-half results, which saw the firm book a 26 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £128 million.

Like-for-like sales rose 4 per cent as revenues came in at £1.26 billion in the six months to 30 September.

“I am pleased with our performance in the half, with strong double-digit underlying profit growth,” said boss Gobbetti.