Financial News

2002/03 PRELIMINARY RESULTS

22 MAY 2003

Financial Highlights

• Total revenues increased by 19% (12% underlying*)
  
  • Retail sales up 46% (25% underlying)
    
  • Wholesale sales increased 6%
    
  • Licensing revenue up 9%
• Gross profit margin increased from 50.3% to 56.0%
  
• EBITA** increased by 29% to £116.7 million
  
• EBITA margin expanded from 18.1% to 19.7%
  
• Diluted EPS before goodwill and IPO-related items of 14.9p
  
• Strong cash generation reflects profitability and working capital improvements
  
• Final dividend of 2.0p per ordinary share recommended (3.0p for full year)

*Underlying figures are calculated at constant exchange rates and exclude the incremental impact in the current year of the Asia acquisitions. Burberry acquired the operations of its primary distributors in Asia outside of Japan in January 2002 and July 2002 (the 'Asia acquisitions').
**EBITA represents operating profit before interest, taxation, exceptional items and goodwill amortisation.

Strategic Highlights

• Opened 12 new and refurbished stores, including New York flagship
  
• Product development efforts led by accessories growth
  
• Integration of Asia acquisitions proceeding smoothly
  
• Strong progress in Spain repositioning
  
• Excellent US performance

IPO-related items include a £22.0 million exceptional charge related to employee share ownership plans and a £2.3 million pre-IPO foreign exchange loss before attributable tax relief of £7.0 million.

John Peace, Chairman of Burberry, commenting on the preliminary results: "This has been a remarkable year for Burberry. We began life as a public company in July 2002 with the successful completion of our IPO during very difficult stock market conditions. And we have ended the year with an excellent set of financial results, well ahead of market expectations at the time of the IPO. These and other achievements reflect the strength of the Burberry brand, which has been reshaped over the last five years into an uniquely positioned international luxury brand. Behind this are a strong management team, a clear strategy and many opportunities for further growth."

Rose Marie Bravo, Chief Executive, stated: "Our strategic initiatives across product categories, selected distribution channels and targeted regions have proven effective as evidenced by our strong performance. The dedication of Burberry's management and staff, the support of our wholesale customers and the efforts of our licensee partners underlie these achievements. As we begin the new financial year, we remain confident in these strategies while approaching the uncertain trading environment with appropriate caution."

Management will discuss these results during a presentation to research analysts and institutions at 1:00pm today at The Lincoln Centre, 18 Lincoln's Inn Fields London WC2A 3ED (telephone 020 7404 5959). The presentation will also be broadcast live on the Internet at www.burberryplc.com and can be accessed by telephone at +44 (0) 20 7162 0181. Replay until 11 June: UK +44 (0) 8288 4459/ passcode 212092#;
US +1 334 323 6222/ passcode 212092#.

Enquiries:

View the full Preliminary Results Announcement in PDF format.

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