Burberry has suffered an eye-watering slump in sales after admitting the negative impact on demand sparked by coronavirus has “intensified” over the past month.

The luxury fashion brand said like-for-like sales across its stores have nosedived between 40% and 50% over the past six weeks.

Burberry warned that demand is likely to plummet further in the remaining weeks of its financial year as a result of government restrictions placed on trading, travel and social interactions across its global markets. It expects like for likes to tumble as much as 80% year on year during that period.

As a result, like for likes for its fourth quarter are forecast to slump by 30%.

Burberry said it was taking “mitigating actions” to protect its balance sheet as the global pandemic rages on.

The business is renegotiating rents, restricting travel and reducing discretionary spending.

Burberry said: “Our primary concern is the global health emergency and we are taking appropriate measures to help prevent the spread of the virus and ensure the safety and wellbeing of our employees, partners and customers while following government guidelines in all our markets.”

It has already shuttered almost half of its stores worldwide as part of those measures. The majority of its office-based employees are working from home, while it has put in new protocols for hygiene and social distancing.

Burberry insisted it remained “confident” in its strategy and said it had “significant financial headroom” including £600m cash and a £300m credit facility.

Boss Marco Gobbetti said: “Since our February update, the material negative effect of Covid-19 on luxury demand has intensified and is now impacting the industry in all regions. Our primary concern is the global health emergency and we continue to take every precaution to help prevent the spread of the virus and ensure the safety and wellbeing of our employees, partners and customers.

“We are implementing mitigating actions to contain our costs and protect our financial position, underpinned by our strong balance sheet. We remain confident in our strategy and the strength of our brand and I am exceptionally proud of our teams’ resilience and commitment.”

Burberry will release its full-year results in May.

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