Mulberry bags 50% profit boost

By SCOTT REID
Published on 10/06/2012 00:00

THE new French boss of British success story Mulberry is set to make a fashionable entrance this week when he unveils a surge in profits.

Bruno Guillon, who only joined as chief executive in March, is tipped to reveal a 50 per cent leap in pre-tax profits to £35.4 million as overseas demand soars.

The former Hermes managing director is likely to be quizzed by the City on how he plans to maintain momentum in the face of cooling growth in key Asian markets such as China.

Somerset-based Mulberry, which was founded in 1971 by Roger Saul and his mother Joan, has showed few signs of falling out of popularity after a successful launch of its Lana Del Rey bag, named after the twenty-something American singer-songwriter.

The fashion group’s best-known product of recent times has been the Alexa bag – inspired by model and TV presenter Alexa Chung – but, under creative director Emma Hill, it has also won praise for its up-and-coming ranges.

Panmure Gordon analyst Philip Dorgan said: “It is one of our top picks in 2012, because we feel that it can deliver significant, sustained top-line growth that will have a leveraged impact upon profitability. It has barely scratched the surface of its global potential, with only a handful of stores in many key luxury goods markets.”

Shares in Mulberry, which is worth some £1.2 billion, are up about 50 per cent on a year ago.