Buxton favourite Burberry reports 23% profit hike

Luxury fashion house Burberry Group, a long standing favourite of Schroders' Richard Buxton,reported a rise in half-year profits to £158.7m driven by improved sales in areas like China.

Buxton holds a 3.2% position in Burberry in his £2.6bn Schroder UK Alpha Plus fund but the stock had a rough ride over the summer as fears of a slowdown in Chinese demand for luxury goods hit its share price. However, demand from Asia has held up and Burberry said it remained committed to a 15% increase in retail space - mostly in new markets such as China. Profits for the group for the half year to 30 September are 23% up on 2010, as same-store retail sales rose 16%. Much of the firm's growth has come from emerging economies, which accounted for just 6% of sales in 2008 and 13% in...