Burberry revealed sales in its third quarter surged 14% driven by online but warned current exchange rates would be a headwind in its second half.

Burberry revealed sales reached £528m in the three months to December 31.

The luxury fashion retailer’s like-for-like sales were up 12%, which Burberry said was because of its “compelling and focused” festive offer. It added that its click-and-collect service also boosted sales and it added three new languages to the website, which were Russian, traditional Chinese and Brazilian/Portuguese.

Burberry said traffic to the website increased, while stores were weaker, which is consistent with previous periods, and conversion increased across the board.

The retailer said the performance was “robust” in the UK, France and Germany but Italy remained “weak”.

Outgoing Burberry chief executive Angela Ahrendts said: “In the all-important festive period, we’re pleased with our 12% comparable sales growth, which was in line with our expectations. 

“This performance reflects continuing strong brand momentum and our team’s intense focus on retail execution, supported by a planned increase in investment in marketing, customer service offline and online, and our retail portfolio.”

Ahrendts added that current exchange rate levels will be a “significant headwind in the second half and beyond”.

“But we’re confident that our proven strategies will continue to deliver long-term value for shareholders,” she added.

Burberry chief financial officer Carol Fairweather added: “It’s simply the impact of translating overseas profits. We look to manage it where we can and its really about the underlying business. There is no change to our strategy.”

Burberry opened five stores in the period, including its Beauty Box standalone store in Covent Garden. It also acquired a store and two concessions from a franchisee partner in Thailand as part of its investment in “under-penetrated” markets.

Burberry said its outerwear and large leather goods contributed about half of its growth, while mens accessories and tailoring experienced strong growth. Fairweather said she was “thrilled” with the menswear performance.

The retailer recorded double-digit growth in Asia driven by its operations in Greater China, which Fairweather said was boosted by the Chinese new year falling earlier in the calendar this year. Korea continued to improve. There was mid to high single-digit growth in the Americas and EMEIA.

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