Burberry reports stronger sales and profit as turnaround gains pace

By Raechel Thankam Job and Helen Reid

Nov 12 (Reuters) - British luxury brand Burberry reported second-quarter sales and profit above market estimates, bucking a broader luxury slowdown that has weighed on larger rivals.

The share price rose over 9% in early trade on Thursday.

While sales at luxury conglomerates like LVMH and Kering have struggled to grow, the much smaller British luxury brand has increased sales in the US and China, where it says it has won over Gen Z shoppers.

Since taking over in mid-2024, CEO Joshua Schulman has focused on projecting a warm image of Britishness by playing on cultural tropes and marketing that involves casting British cinema and TV icons in quirky short films.

Burberry's holiday campaign featured a party in a countryside mansion. It starred Pierce Brosnan of James Bond fame and Fiona Shaw of the cult television series Killing Eve.

Burberry's US sales extended growth in the July-September quarter, with the Americas region up 11%, while Greater China sales rose 5%.

Sales in the Europe and Middle East region fell for the third quarter running, however, as conflict in the Middle East and weaker tourist activity hit luxury brands.

A broad slowdown in luxury spending led LVMH to report weaker-than-expected third-quarter sales in October.

Comparable retail sales grew 4% for the second quarter ended September 26, better than analysts' expectation of 3% growth.

For Burberry, adjusted operating profit for the first half of fiscal 2027 was £62 million ($82.19 million), beating the average analyst estimate of £44 million.

($1 = 0.7543 pounds)

(Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job in Bengaluru and Helen Reid in London; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Barbara Lewis)