Burberry warns of negative impact of coronavirus on China demand

Burberry Group plc has said that following the coronavirus outbreak in China 24 of our 64 Burberry stores in Mainland China are closed with remaining stores operating with reduced hours and seeing significant footfall declines.

“The outbreak of the coronavirus in Mainland China is having a material negative effect on luxury demand. While we cannot currently predict how long this situation will last, we remain confident in our strategy. In the meantime, we are taking mitigating actions and every precaution to help ensure the safety and wellbeing of our employees,” said Marco Gobbetti, Burberry’s Chief Executive Officer in a statement.

The company added that the situation is impacting retail sales in both Mainland China and Hong Kong S.A.R. and though the spending patterns of Chinese customers in Europe and other tourist destinations have been less impacted to date, given widening travel restrictions, the company anticipates these to worsen over the coming weeks.

Picture:Facebook/Burberry