Mulberry update says "overall" trading in line with expectations

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Apr 20, 2023

Mulberry Group delivered a year-end trading update on Thursday ahead of its full-year results announcement that's due on 22 June with the update being generally positive, although it was short on detail.

The company said that “overall”, trading in the year to 1 April “was in line with the board's expectations”, with group revenue “slightly ahead of last year and underlying group profitability, as usual, weighted to the second half”.

It said it saw “an improvement in retail revenue over the second half compared to the first half of the year, driven by a good performance in the UK and an improving environment in China over recent months, underpinned by our direct-to-customer model”.

Frustratingly though, it didn't give any specific figures, so it's hard to judge just how it's been doing and how good or sluggish its growth has been.

The luxury bags specialist added that it “continued to make progress against its strategic priorities”, including maintaining the gross margin due to its strategic focus on full-price sales.

It also continued to invest in the Asia Pacific region, including the launch of a duty-free store in Hainan, Greater China, and assumed full ownership of Mulberry Australia following the acquisition of five stores previously run by the group's local franchisee. This followed the launch of Mulberry Sweden and the acquisition of three stores previously operated by its Swedish franchisee.

The company added that is continued to invest in its global brand awareness and the development of its business model “and remains focused on investing for future growth”. As a result, its net cash balances as of 1 April 2023 should be around £0.8 million, “with further headroom available under its borrowing facilities”.

CEO Thierry Andretta added: “This year we have continued to deliver on our strategic objectives while demonstrating resilience in the challenging macro-economic environment. We've invested in our omnichannel approach, improved our direct-to-customer-model and maintained gross margin.”