Burberry fashions strong sales figures from gloomy quarter

BRITISH fashion group Burberry, clothier to royalty and supermodels alike, posted unexpectedly strong figures for the third quarter yesterday, as it reaped the benefits from new stores and healthy Christmas sales.

Burberry's retail division, which accounted for almost two-thirds of revenue in the October to December quarter, grew an impressive 32% on an underlying basis, excluding the effects of currency movements and store acquisitions in Asia.

About half of this underlying growth, which helped fuel a 33% increase in total revenues, came from new store openings, and half from organic growth in existing stores.