Mulberry’s results fell by -1% from April to the end of September, penalized by the fall in sales in the United Kingdom due to the economic context.
£64.9 million turnover.
Growth is not looking good for the brand specializing in leather goods. In its half-year report ending on October 1 – i.e. from April to September 2022 – Mulberry reported a -1% drop in sales, to 64.9 million pounds sterling. The house was impacted by the summer season – -9% in turnover – although the first quarter of its financial year ended at +7% growth.
A fall resulting in a £3.9m pre-tax loss, compared to a pre-tax profit of 10.2 million pounds the previous year, while the gross margin rose to 71%. In terms of distribution channel, digital and direct stores fell by -15% and -3% respectively, while franchise and wholesale sales increased by +32%.
Mixed performance due in particular to the turnover established in the United Kingdom. Flagship home market, the territory recorded a decrease in income by -10%, at just over 34 million pounds. Digital particularly weakened the geographical area – -24% in sales – due to higher post-covid influx in stores. Despite this return to stores, physical retail ended the half at -2%.
In Asia-Pacific, sales increased slightly by +1%. Unlike the UK, the digital growth was boosted to +23%despite the health restrictions in Chinea country whose revenues grew by +6%.
Mulberry’s other regions saw a -3% drop in sales, with the digital channel up +8% and in-store results at -13%.
“Looking ahead, we are confident in our ability to execute our strategy and continue to invest across the group for our future growth, despite the challenging economic and geopolitical backdrop. We are well positioned for the festive trading period and We will continue to drive the business forward for the benefit of all stakeholders.” insisted on reassuring Thierry Andretta, Managing Director of Mulberry.
Indeed, the brand indicated that these last eight weeks had benefited from a improving turnover compared to the previous year. In the coming months, Mulberry might also benefit from the attractiveness around handbags: in 2023, 34% of luxury buyers said they intended toincrease their spending in the luxury leather goods segment, according to a report by Kantar and Altiant.
