Shares in luxury handbag maker Mulberry (MUL) have been treading water for the past six months. That's perhaps not surprising given the number of management changes the board has implemented in an effort to get the business back on track. The latest change comes in the shape of a new creative director, Johnny Coca, who will present his first collection for the brand in February 2016 at London Fashion Week.
In the meantime, there were encouraging signs that demand for the group's products is reviving after its ill-judged move upmarket. UK retail sales rose 12 per cent to £40m in the first half, including like-for-like growth of 14 per cent. And online sales jumped by a fifth to £7.9m - 12 per cent of the total - while gross margins inched up 1.6 percentage points to 61.5 per cent.
The picture elsewhere was mixed. International sales rose 12 per cent to £10.4m, but dipped 3 per cent on a like-for-like basis as trading in North America remained challenging. Meanwhile, wholesale revenues fell 11 per cent to £17.4m, as the group's Asian partners reduced their orders in anticipation of the new collection from Mr Coca.
Analysts at Barclays expect EPS of 5p for the year ending March 2016, compared to 2p in FY2015.
| MULBERRY (MUL) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 935p | MARKET VALUE: | £561m | |
| TOUCH: | 920-937p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 950p | LOW: 725p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 131p | NET CASH: | £4m | |
| Half-year to 30 June | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 64.7 | -1.1 | -0.7 | nil |
| 2015 | 67.8 | 0.6 | 0.2 | nil |
| % change | +5 | - | - | - |
Ex-div: na Payment: na | ||||
