Burberry bags 18% revenues jump as accessories perform

The rise was driven by strong sales of handbags, shoes and other luxury accessories.

Retail sales, which accounted for more than half of the group total, increased 17 per cent to£282 million during the six months to March 31.

Burberry opened nine stores during the period and plans to increase its selling space by a further 12 to 13 per cent in the present financial year. It also expects to increase wholesale revenue by about 10 per cent.

Analysts suggest, however, that Burberry’s strong performance may not be representative of the luxury goods sector as a whole.

Citigroup analyst Thomas Chauvet said: “Burberry has been outperforming the rest of the luxury industry for some time now, particularly in the US. You cannot really extrapolate much from these numbers, which is why they haven’t lifted luxury stocks generally.”