Burberry is to cut up to 540 jobs, the fashion retailer said as it revealed like-for-like store sales were down 3 per cent in the last three months of 2008.

As part of£50m cost efficiency plan, Burberry said it will restructure its Spanish operation and close one of its UK factories in Rotherham which, subject to consultation, could lead to the loss of 290 jobs.

In Spain it is closing its underperforming Thomas Burberry brand and restructuring its supply chain which could lead to around 250 redundancies.

Burberry chief executive Angela Ahrendts said: “These savings, coupled with our proven strategies, strong brand perception and conservative balance sheet position us to trade through the current difficult environment and emerge even stronger when the global economy recovers.”

Revenue for Burberry in the three months to December 31 was up 9 per cent on an underlying basis.

Burberry said its retail performance in December improved particularly in Europe and Asia where there was double digit growth. The US and Spain continued to be weak for the brand.

The luxury brand also said that its adjusted pre tax profits for 2008/2009 would be in line with expectations and ended December with a net debt of around£90m, which is well within the group’s£260m banking facilities.

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