Sales at Burberry are forecast to have fallen by a fifth when the UK's famous clothing brand unveils its interim results on Thursday, according to analysts' predictions. Like many other luxury retailers, Burberry has been struggling of late as consumers in key markets like China tighten their belts.
Analysts predict that Burberry, whose shares recently dropped out of London's blue chip FTSE 100 index, expect sales to come in at about £1.1 billion for the first half, a fifth lower than for the same period last year. Meanwhile, the company is predicted to post a loss of about £45 million, compared to last year's interim profit of £225 million.
In Burberry's first quarter figures, which came out in June, the company's sales in China dropped 21 per cent compared to a year earlier, while global revenue as a whole for the 13 weeks to the end of June was down 22 per cent at £458 million. Nonetheless, analysts at AJ Bell predict “better momentum” for Burberry in the second half of the year, which will include the winter months, normally a better time for retailers.
Burberry through the years – in pictures
Burberry's shares have struggled of late, recently hitting lows not seen since 2009. However, rumours of a takeover boosted the share price earlier this month, as a report in the trade journal Miss Tweed claimed Moncler, the owner of Stone Island, was considering making a bid for the British company. It's been speculated that LVMH, a large shareholder in Moncler, was pressing for an offer to be made.
Jelena Sokolova, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, said with Burberry's share price at its current level of around £8, Moncler would get a bargain, should a future bid be successful, given that Morningstar's fair value for Burberry is £13.30 a share.
“We believe there is about 70 per cent upside to our fair value estimate for Burberry,” she commented. “We believe Burberry is taking the first steps in the right direction strategically, with a marketing campaign that is focused on its iconic products like outerwear and scarves. This is where the brand strength lies, using humour and a good choice of influencers. We also believe the company is getting more pragmatic in terms of pricing.”
Focusing on its iconic chequered scarves and hats and cutting its cloth to suit its core customers on pricing is part of Burberry's latest turnaround strategy. The company has had four chief executives in ten years and it's hoped the incumbent Joshua Schulman, the former boss at the US fashion brands Michael Kors and Coach, will bring Burberry out of its current slump.
Burberry has dropped a plan to take the brand further up the luxury ladder, a scheme which cost them sales, because loyal core customers at the time were struggling with higher inflation and cost of living issues and were unprepared to pay higher prices. The high-end of the luxury market is the most desirable place for brands to be, because they are too a large extent insulated from any economic turmoil. However, market watchers point out the enormous difficultly and potential cost of moving a brand into a much higher luxury bracket.
The years Ramadan fell in May
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
The years Ramadan fell in May
The five pillars of Islam
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
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A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Four-day collections of TOH
Day Indian Rs (Dh)
Thursday 500.75 million (25.23m)
Friday 280.25m (14.12m)
Saturday 220.75m (11.21m)
Sunday 170.25m (8.58m)
Total 1.19bn (59.15m)
(Figures in millions, approximate)
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
CHATGPT%20ENTERPRISE%20FEATURES
%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Enterprise-grade%20security%20and%20privacy%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Unlimited%20higher-speed%20GPT-4%20access%20with%20no%20caps%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Longer%20context%20windows%20for%20processing%20longer%20inputs%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Advanced%20data%20analysis%20capabilities%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Customisation%20options%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Shareable%20chat%20templates%20that%20companies%20can%20use%20to%20collaborate%20and%20build%20common%20workflows%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Analytics%20dashboard%20for%20usage%20insights%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Free%20credits%20to%20use%20OpenAI%20APIs%20to%20extend%20OpenAI%20into%20a%20fully-custom%20solution%20for%20enterprises%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The five pillars of Islam
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Zayed Sustainability Prize
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Where can I submit a sample?
Volunteers can now submit DNA samples at a number of centres across Abu Dhabi. The programme is open to all ages.
Collection centres in Abu Dhabi include:
- Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC)
- Biogenix Labs in Masdar City
- Al Towayya in Al Ain
- NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City
- Bareen International Hospital
- NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
- NMC Royal Medical Centre - Abu Dhabi
- NMC Royal Women’s Hospital.
