Asian boost for Burberry and Giorgio Armani

Tuesday was a good day for trading for the leading apparel

quoted companies such as Burberry or Marks and Spencer that became gainers in London Stock Exchange. Also a good session for Giorgio Armani after it reported strong sales and profit.

Giorgio Armani reported strong sales and profit, boosted by growth in Asia. The Italian fashion group reported revenue for 2012 up by 16 percent to circa 2.1 billion euros while operating profit rose 20 percent to 339 million euros.

Asia also became the gold mine for Burberry, as the quintessentially British fashion house saw revenue from the Asia Pacific region, which accounts for 35 percent of the group's business, climbed 13 percent. As opposed to revenue from Europe and the Americas that rose 6 percent each.

Building up momentum ahead of the corporate release, several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. It was the case of analysts at Societé Generale, who have reiterated their ‘hold’ rating on shares of Burberry Group in a research note to investors on Monday. They now have a 1,380 pence price target on the stock.

British peer Marks and Spencer was also among the risers in London Tuesday, gaining almost 6 percent despite the historic fall in annual profits: it fell to their lowest level in four years, heavily weighted by poor clothing sales. Underlying pre-tax profits for 2012/13 were 665.2 million pounds, 6 percent down on a year-on-year basis yet still meeting the market expectations.