Burberry's Profit Slumps 34% as Luxury Demand Slows

A person walks past a Burberry store undergoing refurbishment on New Bond Street in London, Britain, March 11, 2023. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
A person walks past a Burberry store undergoing refurbishment on New Bond Street in London, Britain, March 11, 2023. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
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Burberry's Profit Slumps 34% as Luxury Demand Slows

A person walks past a Burberry store undergoing refurbishment on New Bond Street in London, Britain, March 11, 2023. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
A person walks past a Burberry store undergoing refurbishment on New Bond Street in London, Britain, March 11, 2023. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

Britain's Burberry reported a 34% drop in annual operating profit on Wednesday after it faced the challenge of repositioning its brand to take it more upmarket against a backdrop of slowing luxury demand.
It said its like-for-like sales fell 12% in the final quarter, wiping out gains made earlier in the year, Reuters said.
Chief Executive Jonathan Akeroyd said that while the financial results underperformed the company's original expectations, it had made good progress refocusing its brand.
"We are using what we have learned over the past year to fine tune our approach, while adapting to the external environment," he said, adding that he remained confident Burberry could be the "Modern British Luxury" brand.
He said Burberry expected the first half of its current financial year to remain challenging, but it expected to see the benefit of the actions it was taking from the second half.



Abercrombie & Fitch Lifts Sales Forecast on Trendy Apparel Demand; Lofty Expectations Hit Shares

A hiring sign is displayed in front of Abercrombie & Fitch at the Tysons Corner Center mall on August 22, 2024 in Tysons, Virginia. (Getty Images via AFP)
A hiring sign is displayed in front of Abercrombie & Fitch at the Tysons Corner Center mall on August 22, 2024 in Tysons, Virginia. (Getty Images via AFP)
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Abercrombie & Fitch Lifts Sales Forecast on Trendy Apparel Demand; Lofty Expectations Hit Shares

A hiring sign is displayed in front of Abercrombie & Fitch at the Tysons Corner Center mall on August 22, 2024 in Tysons, Virginia. (Getty Images via AFP)
A hiring sign is displayed in front of Abercrombie & Fitch at the Tysons Corner Center mall on August 22, 2024 in Tysons, Virginia. (Getty Images via AFP)

Abercrombie & Fitch raised its annual sales target on Wednesday after reporting better-than-expected quarterly revenue, but shares of the company fell 14% as investors expected a bigger forecast bump from the high-flying retailer.

The stock has surged about 89% so far this year after nearly quadrupling in 2023.

"While the market may have been looking for a stronger guidance lift for the year, given momentum across the business, we see a beat and raise as impressive given a moderating top line outlook in response to a choppy macro environment across many of Abercrombie's specialty retail peers," said Dana Telsey, analyst at Telsey Advisory Group.

Abercrombie has been revamping its merchandise with new styles, featuring dressier apparel and cargo pants while tapping into growing demand for wide-legged jeans, helping it draw in fashion-savvy shoppers.

Retailers ranging from department store chains Macy's to home improvement chain Home Depot struck a cautious note and trimmed their annual sales forecasts, blaming weak discretionary demand. Strong results from Target and Walmart showed shoppers were looking for bargains amid budget constraints.

Sales at the Abercrombie brand jumped 26% in the quarter ended Aug. 3, while its Hollister division reported a 17% rise due to better-than-expected back-to-school selling.

The company now expects net sales to rise between 12% and 13% in fiscal 2024, compared with its prior forecast of around 10% growth.

Abercrombie CEO Fran Horowitz said the forecast raise came despite "an increasingly uncertain environment".

The company saw benefits from lower promotions and lower cotton costs, which helped it improve its gross profit rate by 240 basis points to 64.9%. However, it expects pressure from freight costs in the back half of the year.

In the second quarter, it reported profit of $2.50 per share, beating an estimate of $2.22, according to LSEG data.

Net sales rose 21% to $1.13 billion in the second quarter, compared with analysts' estimate of $1.10 billion.