- Burberry finance director sells £300,000 worth of shares

- Follows announcement of new £5 billion sales target

- Litigation Capital Management chair buys £261,000 worth of shares

The finance director at luxury brand Burberry (BRBY) has sold £344,000 worth of shares a few weeks after its first half results.

Appointed in January 2017, Julie Brown sold 16,000 shares at a price of £21.50 on 30 November. The 60-year-old still retains a holding of 123,389 shares - above the requirements of a shareholding policy of three times base salary.

Alongside results covering the six months to 1 October (17 November) Burberry CEO Jonathan Akeroyd outlined ambitious plans to get to annual sales of £5 billion and to refocus on ‘Britishness’ under its new head designer Daniel Lee.

For context the last set of full year results showed sales of £2.8 billion and in the first half of the current financial year Burberry chalked up sales of £1.35 billion. Adjusted operating profit for the six-month period was up 6% year-on-year at £238 million.

BURBERRY RELIANT ON ‘A HEALTHY CHINESE MARKET’

Akeroyd believes the path to the long-term sales target is through doubling sales of leather goods, shoes and women’s ready to wear products and doubling online sales.

Edison director Russell Pointon commented that ‘a healthy Chinese market will be the key to furthering growth until 2026’.

Despite the recent turmoil in its key market of China, Burberry shares have now advanced 27% in the last six months.

The chair of litigation finance firm Litigation Capital Management (LIT:AIM) Jonathan Moulds has snapped up 375,000 shares in the company at 69.52p (25 November). The £260,700 trade means Moulds, who has previously served in senior roles at major financial institutions including as chief operating officer of Barclays (BARC), now owns 3.58 million shares or 3% of the company.

The company announced full year results on 20 September revealing a 17% increase in gross profit for the 12 months to 30 June 2022 to A$31.1 million and cash of A$50 million.

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Issue Date: 01 Dec 2022