Burberry 2014 Christmas campaign launched as profits hurt by foreign exchange loss

 

Burberry yesterday brushed off concerns over foreign exchange movements, saying it expected the effects to wear off in the next six months after taking its toll on first-half profit. 

 

The luxury fashion group posted a six per cent rise in underlying profit to £152m in the six months to 30 September. 

 

But when including foreign exchange movements, profits were down 12 per cent to £142m. 

 

Chief financial officer Carol Fairweather said she expected the strong pound to have less of an impact in the second half of the year.  Underlying revenue rose 14 per cent to £1.1bn, with double-digit growth across all regions despite a tougher environment.  

 

Burberry said demand from Chinese customers had not recovered, while spending by Russian consumers was also lower. 

 

Fairweather said the Christmas quarter had got off to a good start, with its campaign launched last week attracting more than 5m views on social media sites such as YouTube and Facebook.

 

The advert features Romeo, one of the sons of celebrity couple David and Victoria Beckham.

 

Following reports over the size of Romeo Beckham’s pay package, Fairweather declined to comment on the fee: “It’s not for me to comment on what arrangements were paid to Romeo. The Christmas campaign is doing tremendously well for us. Romeo is just one for the people we work with and we are very happy with that campaign”. 

 

The Christmas season is the first since Christopher Bailey took over as chief executive at Burberry in May, combining the role with that of chief creative officer.

 

“We think we have never been better positioned for the festive period,” Fairweather said.