Ahead of results from Burberry Group PLC (LSE:BRBY) later this week, shares in the UK fashion house continued to be supported by takeover rumours and speculation.
Last week, there was speculation that Moncler, the Italian skiwear giant, was eyeing a potential takeover of the UK fashion group.
On Monday morning, Burberry shares jumped 4% after a Mail on Sunday report that added some skimpy details to the story.
The paper said that staff in the FTSE 100 group's London stores have already been told about the deal, though details remained extremely vague.
A source was reported to have told the newspaper that merchandise talks have been paused until a potential bid is confirmed.
Previous stories have indicated that Bernard Arnault, chief executive of major Moncler investor LVMH, which recently took a large stake in the Italian company, was keen to push for it to merge with the UK company.
Following a year and a half where Burberry's shares fell by around three-quarters, they are now trading at just a 1.2 times forecast sales compared to the wider luxury sector's average of 3.5 times, which analysts say could attract an opportunistic offer.
Interim results from Burberry are due this Thursday, where the focus will be on the rebalancing of its product range and inventory levels.
Expectations are for sales to have dropped by a fifth to £1.1 billion in the first half of the year, resulting in an adjusted operating loss of around £45 million.