Burberry’s new boss plans to unlock Japan
BURBERRY’S new chief executive Christopher Bailey set out ambitious plans yesterday to grow its business in Japan as the luxury retailer reported an eight per cent jump in profits.
Over the last five years, Burberry has been building its retail operations in Japan and buying stores as it prepares to take back control of third party licenses, which expire in 2015.
It currently has four stores, 10 concessions and small wholesale business, which generated £25m in revenues last year but no profit.
It now aims to deliver £100m of sales by 2017 and make about £25m in profit by opening another 24 concessions and stores in cities including Omotesando, Tokyo, and Osaka.
“As we enter a new chapter, our teams are united and energized by the opportunities ahead—from unlocking Japan, to accelerating beauty and further integrating the physical and digital to deliver distinctive experiences,” Bailey said in his first set of results.
The brand, which also highlighted beauty as one of its main platforms for growth over the coming years, reported an adjusted profit before tax of £461m in the year to 31 March on revenues up 17 per cent to £2.3bn.
It has also hired Easyjet boss Carolyn McCall as a non-executive director.