Burberry Makes Good Progress in The Second Year of Its Multi-Year Transformation Plan Burberry reported a 4% retail revenue increase for 1Q20 to £498 million. Comparable store sales rose 4%, driven by the introduction of Riccardo Tisci’s product line. This quarter, Tisci’s products became a significant proportion of Burberry’s offer, climbing from about 10% to 15% of the assortment in 4Q to around 50% by the period end. Burberry grew sales in all regions, led mainly by the introduction of the new collection. Asia Pacific: Comparable store sales grew a high single-digit percentage. In mainland China, comps grew mid-teens, driven by positive customer response to the new product line. Globally, Chinese spending was up high single digits, an improvement from the low single-digit trend last year. Comps in Japan were up mid-single digits due to the introduction of the new collection. Comps in Korea grew low single digits while Hong Kong was lower year-on-year due to ongoing protests in the territory. Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA): Comparable store sales grew low-single digits in EMEIA, helped by tourist spend, particularly in the UK. US and Canada: Comparable store sales in the Americas were flat. Comps in the US grew low-single digits but Canada was impacted by a later markdown period and offset the growth seen in the US. Burberry is in the second year of its multi-year transformation plan. The company made good progress in the first quarter because of the increased availabity of new products designed by Riccardo Tisci and improvements to its retail and wholesale network. The new product line received a positive response from customers and saw increased sales both in retail and wholesale. Burberry had good customer engagement through its monthly B-Series drops and newly relaunched monogram capsule. Traction on social media platforms, such as Instagram and WeChat, continued to improve. In China, social media platforms, such as Tik Tok and Douyin, drove sales. Key influencers and press coverage for Burberry remained strong, the editorial return on investment was higher than in the previous quarter. On the retail side, Burberry introduced its new creative vision to 23 stores. Nine of the 38 smaller nonstrategic stores have been closed, eliminating 2% of the company’s retail space. In wholesale, Burberry continues to rationalize space in non-luxury US locations. Outlook The company maintained its FY20 guidance for broadly stable revenue and adjusted operating margin at constant exchange rates including cumulative cost savings of £120 miliion. Burberry expects comparable store sales to increase, driven by demand for the new product line.