Burberry H1 revenue rises 6% as wholesale outpaces retail

Burberry generated €1.1 billion in first-half revenue for fiscal year 2026/2027, up 6%, while comparable retail sales rose 4% on a constant-currency basis in both Q2 and H1. That marked five consecutive quarters of retail growth.

Adjusted operating profit reached £62 million in H1, and gross margin rose to 68.3% from 67.9%, an improvement of 40 basis points.

On Thursday’s call, CEO Joshua Schulman said Burberry Forward, launched two years ago to bring the brand back to where it was four years ago, had made the brand stronger and the business healthier. The plan focused on outerwear and a diversified pricing structure. He said five quarters of growth and better sales quality showed the strategy was working, with momentum across categories, channels and geographies lifting margin and profitability.

Where did retail growth come from?

• Retail sales in the Americas rose 11% in Q2, leading regional growth. Local consumer engagement, activations and strong in-store conversion drove the result.
• Greater China grew 5% in Q2 on local spending, slowing from 9% in Q1. Burberry attributed its relative outperformance partly to the appeal of its British heritage positioning.
• Asia-Pacific excluding China grew 3%. South Korea rose 12% on local demand, while Japan fell 1% as tourism from mainland China softened.
• Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa fell 2%, with declining tourism and traffic weighing on performance.

Schulman said Burberry continued to invest deliberately in Chinese customer relationships despite a challenging luxury market. He also said the company’s pricing strategy was resonating with customers who had become more resistant to elevated prices.

Schulman said: “We understand that luxury customers around the world — particularly in China — are experiencing fatigue with exorbitant pricing, and in this context, our strategy of having enduring value and providing great value for money is resonating strongly with the Chinese customers.”

Schulman said global tourism was down and cross-border travel was lower than in the past, a pattern he had seen all year. Middle Eastern, Chinese, European and British customers were shopping at home, he said, so local spending carried more of the regional performance.

Across retail and wholesale, womenswear led category growth at 9%. Accessories followed at 6%, childrenswear and other at 5%, and menswear at 3%. Each category grew during H1.

Burberry did not disclose an outerwear figure, but reported double-digit retail growth for the category in H1, led by rainwear. Lightweight gabardine designs and shorter styles performed through summer, while new cashmere and leather launches showed traction toward the end of Q2.

Accessories also grew in Q2, while leather goods accelerated. Women’s handbags performed particularly well, including the vintage check and Cotswolds ranges.

Wholesale revenue rose 17% in H1, which Burberry attributed to partner confidence, high sell-through of its products and continued investment in its designs. Licensing revenue fell 5%. The resulting H1 channel mix was wholesale up 17%, retail up 4% and licensing down 5%.

Burberry opened seven stores and closed five, leaving 412 directly operated stores as of September 2026.

The company also addressed its developing relationship with Frasers Group, whose stake now stands at 6%. In October, Frasers cut its holding from 7.4% to 6%, after raising it from 6.3% earlier that month and from 4.2% at the end of September.

Schulman said: “We have a long-standing valued relationship with Frasers. They are an important wholesale customer for us in the United Kingdom, and now they are an investor. And just like we do with all of our investors, we will meet with Frasers Group in due course. In terms of their agenda, that would be a question for them.”

What does this change for suppliers and wholesale partners?

The commercial signal is clearest in wholesale: H1 wholesale growth outpaced retail by 13 percentage points, based on reported rates. For brand and sourcing teams, the distinction matters because stronger partner sell-through can alter order planning and inventory priorities, but it does not establish new production volumes.

Burberry disclosed no factory commitments, capacity changes, lead times, certification updates or unit volumes. Nor did it identify whether the 40-basis-point gross-margin improvement came from sourcing, logistics, production costs or pricing. A strong quarter is not a factory instruction.

Vendors should therefore treat the results as evidence of channel demand and seek firm order commitments before revising production plans. For now, wholesale momentum, higher gross margin and local spending in the Americas and China support the recovery case, while licensing contraction, EMEIA weakness and China’s deceleration from Q1 remain the constraints to watch.