Burberry stays quiet on reports of Romeo’s £45k fee

British luxury brand Burberry refused to comment on reports it paid Romeo Beckham £45,000 (€57,000) for just one day’s work starring in the fashion company’s Christmas advert — as profits and sales slid in the first half of its financial year.

The fashion company, which has launched a high-profile Christmas campaign featuring the 12-year-old son of soccer star David and designer Victoria, said trading remained tough, “with pockets of weakness in Europe.”

Burberry reported a 12% drop in profit before tax for the six months to September 30 to £142 million, which was broadly in line with market forecasts.

Foreign exchange rates shaved off £75m in revenue and £31m in profit in the company’s fiscal first half but should become less of a factor in the months to come, the company said.

“At current rates, we do not expect foreign exchange to have a material impact on underlying profits for the second half,” Burberry Finance Director Carol Fairweather told a conference call with journalists.

Fairweather refused to answer several questions about how much the company paid Romeo Beckham.

“It’s not for me to comment on what arrangements were paid to Romeo,” Fairweather said. “There are marketing budgets, and they [people in the marketing department] are making those decisions. I don’t sign off every invoice that comes into the building.”

She stressed she was “very happy” with the decision to hire Romeo, and said there had been almost 5m hits on YouTube as a result. The Mail on Sunday reported Romeo earned £45,000 for one day of work — or £93.75 a minute for an eight-hour day