Mulberry has sales in the bag as pre-tax profit grows to £6.2m
Designer handbag firm Mulberry Group has posted a £4m jump in profits, driven by retail sales as the company carries on with its turnaround plan.
The figures
The firm grew pre-tax profit to £6.2m in the year to 31 March, from £1.9m the year before.
Total revenue was up by five per cent to £155.9m from £148.7m in 2015, with retail sales growing by eight per cent on a like-for-like basis to £118.7m, from £109.9m.
Earnings per share shot up to 4.5p per share, swinging from a 2.3p per share loss last year.
The company is holding the dividend at 5p per share.
Why it's interesting
This set of results shows that the British designer's turnaround plan is working – chairman Godfrey Davis began trying to get the company back on track in 2014 after previous chief exec Bruno Guillon steered Mulberry in the wrong direction by trying to move the brand further into the luxury market and away from its core customer group.
New chief executive Thierry Andretta has taken on more control from Davis, and seems to be keeping the group on a steady course – the stock has been on an upward trajectory over the past six months.
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What Mulberry said
Andretta commented:
Mulberry has made significant progress during the last financial year with solid growth achieved in revenues and profit. We have built a strong foundation for future growth as a result of the investment made in product design and development as well as our omni-channel infrastructure. Looking forward, we will invest further in developing exciting new product, whilst continuing to engage with our core UK and growing international customer base.
In short
Mulberry's previously loyal customers are remembering why they like the brand so much.