In its broken fiscal year ending late March, British fashion house Burberry has seen sales and profit decline due to the corona crisis. However, comparable store sales fell less rapidly than expected. Customers spent less at Burberry in the first three months of this year, but the company and analysts had anticipated a larger downturn.

In addition, until the pandemic, things went above expectations for Burberry. The clothing of the new designer Riccardo Tisci was received positively and as a result, sales until the end of last year were ahead of the previously announced forecast, until corona threw a spanner in the works. At the end of March, about 60 percent of the fashion brand’s stores were closed.

Burberry’s turnover was £ 2.6 billion. On a comparable basis, looking at stores that were also open a year earlier, this meant a decrease of 3 percent. In the months of January through March, comparable store sales were 27 percent lower. Operating profit decreased by more than half to £ 189 million from £ 437 million a year earlier.

To keep money within the company, Burberry will scrap the final dividend. The company is also accelerating a cost savings program.

Many Burberry stores will remain closed in the current quarter. The maker of raincoats and clothing with the characteristic diamond pattern does see signs of recovery in Asia. In China and South Korea, turnover has increased again since April and is even ahead of the same quarter of last year. For all the broken fiscal year 2021, Burberry does not provide a forecast due to all the uncertainties surrounding the corona virus.