LONDON -- This morning, Burberry Group (LSE: BRBY.L) released its interim results for the six months ended Sept. 30, with the headline news of a one-off charge of 73.8 million pounds relating to the termination of the fragrance and beauty license relationship with Interparfums, announced last month. This affected the reported pre-tax profit figure, which came in at 111.9 million pounds after 61.5 million pounds in exceptional items, compared with 158.7 million pounds at the halfway stage in 2011.
However, the move to bringing the division in-house is viewed optimistically, with Burberry Chief Executive Officer Angela Ahrendts stating:
Integrating fragrance and beauty is a significant brand and business opportunity. Our global teams are excited to partner with long-standing distributors, suppliers, and customers to optimize these under-penetrated categories. One consistent brand expression, leveraged across all categories, will underpin future growth in the Beauty division and our existing core business.
Elsewhere in the results, a 7% increase in adjusted pre-tax profit for the group was reported, up to 173.4 million pounds from 161.6 million pounds at the same stage last year. This was better than expected, as previous estimations had forecasted around 167 million pounds.
Total revenue came in at 883 million pounds, up 6% on H1 2011's figure of 830 million pounds, while retail revenue growth rose 9% to clock in at 577 million pounds. Net cash was recorded of 237 million pounds, improving on 174 million pounds at the same stage last year.
A 14% rise in the interim dividend, up to 8 pence per share from 7 pence, will mean that shareholders who held on during the recent crash following a profit alert will be encouraged. Indeed, that dive in the share price presented a buying opportunity to many canny investors, some of whom would have recalled that Burberry has recovered from previous setbacks in the past. During 2008-9, the group reported profits falling from 200 million pounds to 175 million pounds and the shares collapsed from 566 pence to 160 pence … but then went on to expand tenfold within three years as the business recovered strongly. Such potential returns suggest it may pay to keep an eye on Burberry.
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