Sales ahead of forecasts Shares jump at the open Analyst questions valuation UK fashion house Burberry (BRBY) posted a slightly smaller drop in first-quarter sales than had been expected and said it was 'encouraged' by the initial progress of its turnaround plan. To begin with investors seemed to agree, with the shares trading up as much as 72p or nearly 6% at £13.20, but the enthusiasm...

Burberry and Diageo facing tariffs Vodafone executives buy en masse AO and M&S directors lighten up Encouragingly, it seems more directors of UK firms have been buying their companies' stock than selling over the last few weeks, supporting the thesis that UK equities are undervalued on a relative basis, even if the outlook for their businesses is somewhat clouded by tariff concerns. INSIDER...

Veteran stockpicker Nick Train has upped his stake (30 May) in Finsbury Growth & Income Trust (FGT) to 3.92% in a show of confidence in the well-followed fund's long-run prospects. The purchase followed results (29 May) for the half to 31 March 2025 which revealed another period of underperformance, the company's net asset value (NAV) total return of 2.1% lagging the 4.1% rise in the benchmark...

'Robust' annual performance Strong demand for Cartier brand €8.3 billion in net cash Richemont (CFR:SWX) demonstrated its resilience once again by reporting increases in both fourth-quarter and full-year sales despite difficult luxury market conditions and with performance supported by the enduring popularity of its Cartier brand. Shares in the Swiss high-end watches-to-jewellery purveyor...

According to the latest Dividend Monitor report from Computershare, which looks after the share registers of 900 companies, total UK corporate dividend payments fell 4.6% or £700 million in the first quarter of this year to £14 billion. The decline was mainly due to lower one-off special dividends and a handful of large cuts from firms such as Burberry (BRBY) and Vodafone (VOD), which halved...

Sales fall 17% in year to March 2H operating profit positive Turnaround 'in slow burn mode' Despite a downbeat set of full-year results, investors in UK fashion house Burberry (BRBY) clung to some good news in the shape of its latest cost-saving plan which could result in up to 1,700 job cuts. The shares, which were down 15% on the year before today's update, gained as much as 80p or 9.5% to...

The London blue chip index outperformed its peers in Paris and Frankfurt on Wednesday morning, despite shares in FTSE 100 constituent Imperial Brands falling as it announced the departure of its chief executive officer, amid interim profit growth and a higher dividend. The FTSE 100 index opened up 5.54 points, 0.1%, at 8,608.46. The FTSE 250 was up 26.68 points, 0.1%, at 20,786.35, and the AIM...

Investors maybe pinning their hopes on a glimmer of recovery in the luxury goods sector when UK fashion house Burberry (BRBY) reports its results for the 52 weeks ending 29 March on 14 May. The sector has been struggling due to weakness in the largest luxury goods markets ? US and China - which has been compounded by Trump's tariffs. On 15 April French counterpart LVMH (MC:EPA) reported...

Ongoing weakness in Asian demand Spirits sales especially poor -17% Diageo owns 34% of Moet-Hennessy Investors hoping for a rebound in luxury stocks faced disappointment after France's LVMH (MC:EPA) posted weaker-than-expected first-quarter sales due mainly to softer demand in Asia. LVMH shares fell €35 or 7% to a four-year low of €495, dragging with them shares in British luxury...

Fourth-quarter sales rise 17.6%Group continues to outperform peersShares test new all-time highsHaving risen more than 300% over the past five years, Hermes' (RMS:EPA) shares were marked up another 3.5% to an all-time high of €2,912 in Paris after the high-end handbag-maker defied the depressed luxury goods market by delivering forecast-beating fourth-quarter sales.Revenue rose across the...

With a sense of anticipation Shares scurried along to Finsbury Growth & Income Trust's (FGT) latest AGM (annual general meeting) at London's Guildhall on a wet and windy day (28 January), where shareholders turned up in droves and one or two left the assembled board members squirming in their seats.While the total return-focused trust's long-run record under star manager Nick Train remains...

Burberry (BRBY) £12.01Loss to date: 7.2%When we suggested buying shares in UK fashion house Burberry (BRBY) at £12.94 in February 2024, little did we know the bottom was about to fall out of the luxury goods market.WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE WE SAID TO BUY?At their nadir in September, after exiting the FTSE 100, the shares closed at 575p handing us a paper loss of more than 55%, but...

Capri Holdings (CPRI:NYSE) $24.93Market cap: $2.94 billionRisk-tolerant investors might want to take a look at Capri (CPRI), the global fashion luxury group behind iconic brands Versace, Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo.Shares in the New York-listed company have plunged 50% in the past year after its planned $8.5 billion takeover by Tapestry (TPR:NYSE) was blocked by the FTC (Federal Trade...

Q4 and full year sales beat expectationsFashion and leather see sales decline2025 started wellLuxury goods giant LVMH (MC:EPA) dropped 6% despite posting full year 2024 sales ahead of consensus forecasts after revealing weakness across its fashion and leather goods divisions.The Louis Vuitton, Moet and Chandon and Hennessy brand owner arguably had a high bar to clear following upbeat sales...

Q3 sales better-than-fearedTurnaround strategy showing promiseFull-year 2025 guidance upgradedBritish luxury fashion house Burberry (BRBY) topped the FTSE 250 on 24 January, its shares rallying 16% to £12.41 after the footwear-to-leather accessories designer delivered a far better-than-feared drop in third quarter sales.This performance stoked optimism that new chief executive Joshua...

Ocado still the number one shortRetailers in general unlovedEnergy services stocks drilledShort-selling, or borrowing shares to sell in the hope of buying them back at a lower price, is not something most retail investors have the nerve or the skill-set to pull off as it requires a certain mindset and a willingness to tolerate heavy losses on occasion until your bets come right.For the pros,...

It may not seem much to non-China watchers, but the Communist party's politburo has changed the wording of its stance on monetary policy for the first time since the 2007/8 financial crisis from 'prudent' to 'moderately loose'.Chinese and Hong Kong listed shares jumped, as did those of UK and European stocks which have large exposure to the region including miners Antofagasta (ANTO) and Rio...

Fourth year of underperformanceConsumer brand exposure reducedTrain optimistic for better future returnsVeteran fund manager Nick Train, manager of the well-followed Finsbury Growth & Income Trust (FGT), insisted he is more enthused by the company's prospects than at 'any time this century', despite the company reporting a fourth consecutive year of underperformance versus the...

Better-than-feared second quarterNew recovery strategy unveiled£40 million-cost saving initiativeQuintessentially British luxury brand Burberry (BRBY) topped the FTSE 250 leader board on 14 November, the out-of-fashion firm's shares rallying 14% to 835p as its second-quarter results beat gloomy expectations and new boss Joshua Schulman unveiled a turnaround strategy.A rumoured bid target for...

Takeover tilt by Italian rival expectedBurberry results due 14 NovemberAnalysts expect lurch into lossFirmly out of fashion with investors this year amid a slowdown in luxury goods demand, shares in Burberry (BRBY) rallied 2% to 822p on 11 November as excitement surrounding a bid from Italian outerwear rival Moncler (MONC:BIT) continued to build.According to correspondence viewed by The Mail...