Burberry Holiday Sales Miss Estimates as Gobbetti Pushes Change

LONDON, United Kingdom — Burberry Group Plc's holiday sales fell short of estimates as chief executive Marco Gobbetti began implementing his plan to give the UK-based trench-coat maker a high-fashion facelift.

Retail revenue rose 2 percent on a comparable basis for the quarter ended December 31, the London-based company said Wednesday, missing the 4 percent growth predicted by analysts in a Bloomberg News survey.

Gobbetti revealed plans in November to boost the brand’s image with flashier stores and a focus on handbags. The shares fell the most in five years that day as investors digested the costs of the plan.

As designer and former chief executive Christopher Bailey prepares to leave the company, it's unclear who will design the "It" bags that are central to the brand's upmarket ambitions. Burberry did not provide any updates on the search for a new creative director.

The company on Wednesday left its guidance for operating profit in the full fiscal year unchanged, saying it was on track toward the new CEO’s strategic goals. Quarterly revenue in the U.S., a persistent problem area, was flat.

By Robert Williams; editors: Eric Pfanner and John J. Edwards III.