Mulberry sales hit by Covid-19 lockdowns
Mulberry has posted a drop in first half sales after trading was impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Group revenue declined by 29% to £48.9 million in the six months to 26 September after the majority of the retailer’s stores were forced to close during Covid-19 lockdowns.
However, online sales surged by 68% to £23.4 million as the retailer focused on operating a “market-leading” platform. Mulberry’s Asia Pacific region also performed well with sales up 28%, although sales in the UK declined by 33%.
The results meant that Mulberry reported a group adjusted loss before tax of £1.9 million in the period.
Thierry Andretta, Mulberry chief executive, said: “I am proud that in spite of the devastating effects of the global pandemic, we have made further progress on our long-term strategy to build Mulberry as a sustainable global luxury brand.
“This strategy enabled us to withstand some of the pressures that we, and indeed the wider retail and hospitality sectors, have been faced with. In particular, using our market leading global digital network to replace retail sales with digital wherever possible, achieving high growth in China and Korea, and reacting quickly to flex our agile supply chain, enhancing market reactivity and reducing lead time, to match the increase in digital demand.”
