Shares in luxury fashion retailer Burberry (LON:BRBY) edged up on Wednesday morning, after posting a 5 percent increase in annual profit to £467 million.
Retail growth, improved beauty profitability and cost savings supported the group’s earnings in the year to March, despite total revenue falling 1 percent.
Sales from Burberry’s own stores increased 3 percent, with same-store sales also up 3 percent on improved performance in the US. After stripping out the benefit of currency movements, adjusted profit before tax rose 2 percent.
The firm also announced it would launch a £150 million share buyback programme expected to be completed in 2019. It confirmed that cost-cutting plans were ahead of schedule, with £64 million of annualised savings achieved in the past year.
“In a year of transition, we are pleased with our performance as we began to execute our strategy. While the task of transforming Burberry is still before us, the first steps we implemented to re-energise our brand are showing promising early signs,” said Marco Gobbetti, Chief Executive Officer.
Shares in Burberry (LON:BRBY) are currently trading up 1.91 percent at 1,838.00 (0952GMT).