Mulberry Group PLC Trading Update (0212F)
April 17 2014 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMMUL
RNS Number : 0212F
Mulberry Group PLC
17 April 2014
Mulberry Group PLC ("Mulberry")
Trading update
Mulberry Group plc, the English luxury brand, following the
recent management changes and a review of the business, is updating
the market on trading for the year to 31 March 2014 and the outlook
for the current year.
Year ended 31 March 2014
Turnover for the year ended 31 March 2014 will be broadly in
line with expectations whilst on an underlying basis, profit before
tax is expected to be marginally below current expectations.
Following a detailed review, it has been decided to impair the
net carrying value of fixed assets of two US stores, creating a
non-cash charge for the year ended 31 March 2014 of GBP2.7m. This
combined with the costs of the recent management change mean that
the profit before tax for the year ended 31 March 2014 is expected
to be approximately GBP14 million.
Outlook
Since the appointment three weeks ago of Godfrey Davis as
Interim Executive Chairman, a review of operations and strategy has
been undertaken with the management team. The primary objective is
to reinvigorate sales by the introduction of more affordable new
product.
We remain committed to our strategy of international expansion,
but the rate of own store openings has been slowed down to five for
2014/15 from eight for 2013/14 in order to control costs whilst
existing stores achieve greater traction. The new factory in
Somerset, which opened in June, is fully operational with over 300
employees. The last of these joined during April 2014 and now
attention is being devoted to their training and maximising
production efficiency.
As a consequence of these factors, in particular the pricing
strategy, there will be a material adverse impact on profit whilst
brand momentum rebuilds.
Godfrey Davis, Interim Executive Chairman, commented:
"Following the recent change in management, we are focussing on
achieving sales growth through the reinforcement of our product
offering at more affordable prices to meet the expectations of our
loyal customers. This will have short term financial consequences
but is necessary to ensure the future strength of the Mulberry
brand. The Group remains profitable and cash generative, giving us
the resources to invest for the future."
For further details please contact:
Bell Pottinger
Dan de Belder 020 7861 3881 / 07977 927142
Altium
Ben Thorne / Katherine
Hobbs 020 7484 4040
Barclays
Marcus Jackson / Nicola
Tennent 020 3623 2323
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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