Burberry Group PLC (LSE:BRBY) has reported final results showing evidence that its turnaround started to gain traction in the second half, though it swung to a loss and has seen recent trading hampered by an uncertain economic backdrop.
The luxury brand has proposed changes to the business, including up to 1,700 of job cuts that it said should "unlock" a total of £100 million of savings in two years, up from its previously announced £40m cost-savings programme.
For the past year ended 29 March 2025, revenue of £2.46 billion was reported, down 17% or 15% at constant currency rates, but in line with analyst forecasts.
Retail comparable store sales were down 12%, with a 6% decline in the fourth quarter, which was not as bad as analysts feared.
"After a challenging first half, we have moved at pace to implement Burberry Forward, our strategic plan to reignite brand desire, improve our performance and drive long-term value creation,” said chief executive Joshua Schulman, who joined last summer.
The strategy, launched in November, led to retail comparable sales down 5% in the second half, compared to a 20% decline in the first half.
Adjusted operating profit plunged 94% to £26 million and the FTSE 250-listed company posted an operating loss of £3 million, a swing from a £418 million profit last time, impacted by £29 million in adjusting items.
Free cash flow was £65 million, slightly up from £63 million in the prior year.
"While we are operating against a difficult macroeconomic backdrop and are still in the early stages of our turnaround, I am more optimistic than ever that Burberry's best days are ahead and that we will deliver sustainable profitable growth over time,” Schulman added.
On the outlook, he said the focus will be "to build on the early progress we have made in reigniting brand desire, as a key requisite to growing the topline", with margin improvement coming from "simplification, productivity and cash flow", with growing impact as the year progresses.