The shares have surged since new boss Joshua Schulman pledged in November to focus on outerwear and Burberry’s British roots.
The valuation is back above £4 billion after a 65% rise since new chief executive Joshua Schulman pledged in November to focus Burberry on outerwear and its British roots.
The performance means Burberry is on track for breakeven in the March financial year, having racked up a loss of £51 million and axed its dividend in first-half results.
Sales in the Americas rose by 4% but fell by 9% in Asia Pacific, with demand for outerwear and scarves outperforming the market.
Schulman said: "We have moved at pace to advance our strategy to reignite brand desire, improve our performance and drive long-term value creation.”
Shares were 13% or 144p higher at 1214.5p in today’s session, having been as low as 571p when Burberry lost its FTSE 100 status in September.
A weaker dollar after Donald Trump urged the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates also helped to support the commodities sector.
The first PMI business indicator of 2025 has shown a modest pick-up in activity, with a score of 50.9 up from the previous month’s 14-month low of 50.4.
The figure recorded by S&P Global beat market forecasts of no expansion at 50.
The manufacturing PMI output balance improved from 47 in December to 48.2 in January while the services PMI fell from 51.4 to 51.2.
Capital Economics said the figures were consistent with GDP stagnating at the start of the first quarter after the economy lost all momentum at the end of last year.
It added: “Overall, today’s data release won’t alleviate the Bank of England’s concerns about the weakness of activity.
“As a result, we still think the Bank will cut interest rates from 4.75% now to 4.5% in February, but the further strengthening in price pressures suggest it will cut rates only gradually thereafter.”
The release helped the pound to advance 0.6% to $1.2428 amid dollar weakness after Donald Trump urged the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.
The euro neared a one month high of $1.05 after Europe’s PMI private sector activity figures also came in ahead of expectations.
09:39 , Graeme Evans
Severn Trent is to increase its 2025/26 dividend after revealing today that it accepts Ofwat’s regulatory settlement for the five years to 2030.
Customer bills will rise by an average of 47% over the period, helping the company’s efforts to halve spills by 2030, reduce pollution by 30% and leakage by a further 16%.
Having reviewed last month’s Ofwat determination, Severn announced an inflation-linked dividend policy for the next five years.
Based on the 2024/25 dividend of 121.71p, the payout for 2025/26 will be 126.02p when using November’s CPI figure. Shares fell 9p to 2475p.
Read more here
08:43 , Graeme Evans
Stronger mining stocks have helped the FTSE 100 index to move deeper into record territory, with the top flight as high as 8586.68 early in the session.
It has since settled at 8579.70 for a rise of 14.50 points, with Antofagasta up by 4% or 68.5p to 1798.5p, Glencore 9.25p stronger at 382.75p and Anglo American ahead by 52p to 2600p.
Advertising and marketing business WPP lifted 17p to 743.8p and Prudential rose by 13.2p to 665.2p.
Financial stocks dominated the FTSE 100 fallers board as Barclays reversed 1% or 3.3p to 295.35p, Standard Chartered weakened 11p to 1072.5p and Lloyds Banking Group dropped half a penny to 62p.
Marks & Spencer declined 2.5p to 330.3p and Tesco fell 2.3p to 364.3p.
08:24 , Graeme Evans
Burberry shares have surged 15% or 156p to 1226.5p after the luxury goods group reported forecast-beating sales figures for the festive quarter.
The early progress in its turnaround means that Burberry is hopeful of delivering a break-even performance in the March financial year.
The shares are up more than 65% since November’s reset of strategy by new boss Joshua Schulman focused Burberry on outerwear and its British roots.
Read more here
07:48 , Graeme Evans
Rolls-Royce has signed the biggest Ministry of Defence contract in its history.
The new eight-year Unity agreement is worth about £9 billion and will bring together all elements of R&D, design, manufacture and in-service support of the nuclear reactors that power the Royal Navy’s fleet of submarines.
It includes continued support of the build and commission of Dreadnought Class submarines.
The contract will create an additional 1000 new roles within Rolls-Royce Submarines by the end of the contract, predominantly in Derby.
It also brings opportunities to the supply chain, most of which is in the UK.
07:33 , Graeme Evans
The number of businesses entering 'critical' financial distress surged in the final quarter of 2024, Begbie Traynor’s Red Flag Alert report showed today.
The figure jumped by 50.2% to 46,853 companies, with 21 out of 22 sectors showing a noticeable increase quarter-on-quarter.
Consumer facing sectors increased significantly, led by a 84% jump in Hotels & Accommodation, 76% in Leisure & Cultural Activities and 48% for General Retailers.
The number of UK businesses in 'significant' financial distress rose 3.5% on the prior quarter to 654,765, the business recovery and advisory firm said..
Begbies Traynor partner Julie Palmer said: “Across nearly every sector, there has been an unprecedented level of growth in the number of firms who are at serious risk of entering insolvency in the next 12 months.
“The fact that the distress is being felt across almost every corner of the economy highlights how difficult the outlook is for UK businesses right now.”
07:18 , Graeme Evans
Burberry today hailed early progress in its turnaround after third quarter results boosted the retailer’s hopes that it will offset the loss it made in the first half.
Revenues of £659 million for the 13 weeks to 28 December were 7% lower on a reported basis and down 3% at a constant currency level.
Sales in the Americas rose by 4% and fell by 9% in Asia Pacific, with the overall result boosted by its outperformance in outerwear and scarves.
It said: “While we recognise we are still early in our transformation, we are encouraged by the response from customers and partners over the festive period.
“In light of our Q3 performance, it is now more likely our second-half results will broadly offset the first-half adjusted operating loss, notwithstanding the uncertain macroeconomic environment.”
07:07 , Graeme Evans
A gloomy survey of UK consumer confidence today revealed people are thinking more about saving money as they prepare for “dark days ahead”.
GfK’s long-running consumer barometer fell five points to minus 22, with all five measures that make up the headline score lower in the month.
People are increasingly pessimistic about prospects for the UK economy, with their view of the next 12 months down eight points to minus 34.
The major purchase index fell four points to minus 20, while a question on people’s motivation to save money jumped nine points to plus 30.
NIQ GfK consumer insights director Neil Bellamy said: “This sharp increase is unwelcome because it’s another sign that people see dark days ahead and are therefore thinking of putting money aside for safety.”
The survey was conducted among a sample of 2,007 individuals and took place between 2 January and 16 January.
Read more here
07:02 , Graeme Evans
Wall Street shares posted another positive session last night, with the S&P 500 index finishing 0.5% higher for a first record close of the year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2% amid a strong start to the US earnings season.
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng index are sharply higher following rises of 0.8% and 1.9% respectively,
The Nikkei 225 is slightly down after Japan’s inflation rate rose to 3.6% and the country’s central bank increased its short-term interest rate by 0.25% to 0.5%.
The FTSE 100 index is forecast to open broadly unchanged, having risen 0.2% to 8565.20 in yesterday’s session.