Burberry FY2026 results landed on May 14, and for the first time in two years the numbers moved in the right direction. Comparable store sales rose 2% for the year ended March 28, 2026, reversing a 12% decline in fiscal 2025. Adjusted operating profit jumped to £160 million from £26 million a year earlier. Reported operating profit reached £115 million against a £3 million loss in 2025. Full-year revenue came in at £2.42 billion, flat at constant exchange rates and down 2% on reported rates.
The trajectory within the year matters as much as the annual total. Comparable sales grew 3% in Q3 and accelerated to 5% in Q4, with Greater China and the Americas each delivering 10% comparable growth in that final quarter. That sequential improvement is what CEO Joshua Schulman pointed to when he described fiscal 2026 as “a meaningful inflection point.” Coming from a brand that was…
issuing profit warnings and suspended its dividend as recently as 2024, it is. Schulman joined Burberry in July 2024, replacing Jonathan Akeroyd who left after less than two and a half years during which the share price declined 40%. Schulman’s previous roles included CEO of Coach, Michael Kors, and Bergdorf Goodman.
His mandate at Burberry was specific: stop trying to compete at the very top of luxury and rebuild around what the brand actually owns. Under Akeroyd, Burberry had pushed into a narrow high-fashion aesthetic and moved away from the outerwear and identifiable British references that built the brand’s global recognition.
The product became harder to access without becoming more desirable. The Burberry Forward strategy has three visible expressions. First, outerwear and the trench coat are back at the centre of the product range and the marketing.
Second, the brand is spending a “high-single-digit” percentage of sales on marketing, with specific campaigns and activations in the US and China. Third, creative director Daniel Lee has been given more room to work across different price tiers rather than concentrating on runway-level product that most customers never buy…
Discussion
0 Comments
No comments yet
Start the conversation
Share your take on this story and help shape the discussion.
Sign in to join the discussion.