By Astrid Wendlandt
PARIS (Reuters) - English luxury handbag maker Mulberry said on Thursday it would take time to return to growth and hire a new creative and management team after an ill-fated attempt to move upmarket took its toll on sales and profits.
The brand, hit by a string of profit warnings, said the full benefits of its strategic U-turn would start to be felt only next year when its first lower-priced autumn/winter collection hits the stores in May.
Mulberry declined to provide a sales growth forecast for the current year, with Executive Chairman Godfrey Davis only admitting that "this is a reasonably tough year for us."
Davis, however, said he expected trading to improve in the second half of the year thanks to new product launches.
Mulberry whose retail same-store sales fell 3 percent in the year ended March 31, witnessed a further drop of 15 percent in the 10 weeks to June 7, a performance it said was worsened by comparing it with last year's boost from clearance sales.
The brand's retail sales, from directly operated shops, represent about 70 percent of total revenue.
Mulberry also posted a near halving of pre-tax profit in the year to March, falling to 14 million pounds ($24 million) from 26 million the previous year, in line with its warning in April.
"Mulberry enters the new (fiscal) year in a state of transition," Barclays said in a note.
Mulberry is working on strengthening its product offering at a price range of 500 to 800 pounds ($800-1,300) to win back UK customers put off by its previous focus on handbags priced at over 1,000 pounds.
Mulberry, like rivals Louis Vuitton and Gucci
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/mulberry-says-sales-down-15-percent-10-weeks-064531764--finance.html
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