Burberry Group First-Half Revenue Jumps as Online Sales Rise

LONDON, United Kingdom — Burberry Group Plc, the U.K.'s largest luxury-goods maker, said its first-half sales exceeded 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) for the first time as online revenue advanced.

Adjusted pretax profit for the six months ended Sept. 30 rose to 174 million pounds from 173 million pounds a year earlier, the London-based trenchcoat maker said today in a statement, less than a month after forecasting that the earnings would be around last year’s level. Revenue climbed 17 percent to 1.03 billion pounds. Footfall “remained soft offline but grew significantly online,” Burberry said.

Burberry last month named Christopher Bailey to succeed Angela Ahrendts as chief executive officer when she leaves for Apple Inc. in mid-2014. Bailey's appointment comes as the luxury industry is polarizing, meaning he must decide whether to move Burberry upscale to challenge brands like Prada and Louis Vuitton, or target a wider audience with less expensive goods, according to Sanford C. Bernstein.

“We remain focused on executing our retail, digital and marketing strategies in the all-important third quarter and in what remains an uncertain macro environment,” Ahrendts said in the statement.

Burberry said in October that second-half profit would be hurt should the pound’s strengthening against the dollar persist.

Retail revenue advanced to 694 million pounds in the six months through September, Burberry said Oct. 15. Comparable- store sales increased 13 percent, matching analysts’ estimates.

Burberry doesn’t expect analysts’ estimates for full-year profit to move significantly from a range of 455 million pounds to 509 million pounds, it said last month. The average is about 472 million pounds, the company said at the time.

By Gabi Thesing; Editors: Robert Valpuesta, Celeste Perri