Luxury group Burberry is confident ahead of the crucial Christmas period as sales of outerwear and leather goods continued to boost retail sales.

Burberry reported that pre-tax profit was down 19.6% to £78.4m after restructuring costs for the six months to September 30.

Burberry’s total sales rose 6% to 572.4m during its first half, with like-for-like sales up 2%.

Retail sales account for 54% of Burberry’s sales at £311.6m, up 14% on last year, while wholesale sales which account for 37.6% of total sales fell by 23% to £216.1m.

Burberry chief financial officer Stacey Cartwright said: “We’re very well positioned in that we carry replenishment inventory on our best sellers.”

London retail sales performed particularly well over the first half, helped by the recent refurbishment of the Bond Street flagship store. Europe, excluding Spain, showed “double-digit” like-for-like sales growth, while Spain and the US markets notched up double digit sales declines.

E-commerce sales were up 50% over the first half.

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