Mulberry shares grow despite tough year

AIM-listed fashion firm Mulberry (LON:MUL) has reported that revenues for the year ended 30th March dropped by 2% as international gains were outweighed by shrinking UK sales. The company also posted a loss before tax of £5 million, significantly down from last year’s profit of £6.9 million. Management said that these difficulties had been at least partly caused by disruptions following House of Fraser’s move in to administration.

CEO Thierry Andretta commented: “The Group has delivered results in line with expectations and is making good progress in advancing its International strategy and direct to customer model whilst managing a challenging UK market.

We have established new subsidiaries in Japan and South Korea and introduced important digital partnerships in China. International and omni-channel sales, driven by our customer centric focus, are increasing as a result.

Looking ahead, we anticipate that International and Digital sales will continue to grow whilst UK retail trading conditions are expected to remain uncertain. The Group plans to invest further in its new Asian entities during this development phase, enhance its global digital platform and optimise the UK network“.

The price of Mulberry shares climbed by 2.8% to 275p (as of 13:30 BST).