Good morning, everybody. Welcome to our fantastic flagship store here in Regent Street. We've actually brought you here for a tactical reason, 'cause the store opens at 11:00 A.M., just about the time we finish. I'd highly recommend the scarf booth up there. Just around the corner, where we can just initial things for you and great gifting. There's plenty more things to entice you to spend. We're expecting a very high level of sales today. Thank you for coming. I'm really looking forward to talking to you about our new strategy. First of all, Julie Brown's going to go through our half-year result. I'll come onto my strategy, and then we'll be delighted to take your questions at the end. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Thank you, Jonathan, and good morning to everyone. Since this will be my last in-person results presentation with Burberry, I'd just like to thank you for all the support and the challenge that you've provided to me over the last six years, and also during a period of significant change for the company. It's been an absolute pleasure to work with you and be part of this amazing team. In headline terms, Q2 comparable store sales growth accelerated to 11%, driven by strength in the majority of regions and a good recovery in Mainland China. Leather goods and outerwear demonstrated a strong underlying growth, up 15% and 13% respectively in the second quarter.
In terms of profitability, adjusted operating margins were slightly up at constant rates, driven by a strong underlying performance, partially offset by inflationary pressure and also investment in customer-facing activities. Adjusted EPS growth was excellent, up 15% at constant rates and 32% reported. The balance sheet and cash flows remain strong, with an interim dividend declared today up 42% compared with last year. We also made good progress across our ESG agenda. Moving on to the abbreviated income statement, and as usual, I will refer to changes at constant rates. We are pleased with the performance in the half. Revenue came in at GBP 1.3 billion, 5% increase, and adjusted operating profit was GBP 238 million, increasing by 6%. Overall, we saw a stable gross margin as inflationary pressure was absorbed by the business.
Adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 15%. This benefited from increased interest income, a lower tax rate, and reduced shares in issue following the buyback program. Free cash flow remained strong at GBP 88 million in the half, slightly down on last year due to the decision to accelerate the build of inventory ahead of festive, and also higher capital expenditure as we prioritize investment in our new store concept. Foreign exchange is a substantial tailwind in half one, taking our revenue growth to 11% and adjusted EPS to 32%. The adjusted operating margin benefited 10 basis points from underlying business improvement despite the considerable disruption in China. Our margin closed at 17.7% at reported rates, including 140 basis point benefit from currency. Moving on now to our regional retail performance.
As mentioned, Q2 comp accelerated to an 11% growth rate, bringing to 5% for the half. The first two quarters of the year have been impacted by lockdowns in China. Therefore, if we look at the underlying group performance, excluding China, then Q1, we increased 16% and Q2, 15%. A good underlying performance, especially given the tougher comparator in EMEIA in the last quarter. Turning to EMEIA, we continued to show strong growth with 34% increase in the half and 25% in the quarter. This was primarily driven by an increase in tourists that doubled in the mix to 40% in half one. Particularly with Americans and Middle Eastern customers, these were the main drivers, and the local business was broadly stable. The Americas fell 3% in the half and in the quarter.
Higher AUR categories continued to do well, led by the female consumer and especially leather goods, but this was offset by pressure in entry price categories. Globally, the U.S., customer remains broadly stable this quarter, given Americans transitioned to buying Burberry in EMEIA. Taking a step back, the Americas is up more than 30% in terms of retail comp against pre-pandemic levels. Asia Pacific fell 4% in the half, with Q2 accelerating to 11%, driven by the recovery of domestic spend in Mainland China and the strong performance in other Asian regions. Mainland China was broadly stable in the second quarter despite localized lockdowns in September, and this reflected good growth in menswear and a higher mix of our elite customers. South Korea saw a strong rebound to 11% in Q2, a period of normalized growth, largely unaffected by COVID-19.
South Korea is our strongest market versus pre-pandemic levels, rising over 70% in the second quarter. South Asia Pacific and Japan delivered a strong performance in half one, with growth of over 40% and 25% respectively. As mentioned, comparable store sales growth increased 5% in the period. We saw a 1% contribution from space, leading to retail growth of 6% at constant rates. Wholesale increased 1%. However, within this, we've got two parts. Americas and EMEA, excluding Russia, were up double digits. The adverse movements in wholesale were entirely due to halting shipments to Russia and also the impact of COVID-19-related lockdowns on Asian travel retail. Licensing continues to show good traction, rising 8%. Overall, as mentioned, our revenue was up 5% at constant rates and 11% reported.
Adjusted operating profit rose from GBP 196 million-GBP 207 million in the half, with improved underlying trading of GBP 39 million, partially offset by investments in marketing, client activations, and stores, as well as the impact of inflation. We are pleased that gross margins remained stable year-on-year, despite a 70 basis point headwind from inflation. This was offset with efficiencies, with price, with channel mix, giving us the confidence that we can maintain a 70% gross margin over time. OpEx growth was 4% at constant rates, and this was well controlled, with increases targeted towards our customer-facing areas. Currency was a major contributor, as mentioned, bringing our reported adjusted operating margin to 17.7%. We also delivered GBP 88 million of free cash flow, and this was a conversion rate of 68%.
Working capital was adverse in half one, impacted by our decision to accelerate the inventory build in preparation for festive, together with receivable movements because of the timing of wholesale shipments. Capital expenditure was GBP 53 million, mainly focused on investments in the new store concept and in I.T. We closed the period with net cash of GBP 643 million, following the payment of the final dividend and the buyback program. The latter reached GBP 180 million in half one, with GBP 400 million to be completed by the end of the year, in line with our guidance. Following this, the balance sheet remained strong. We have net debt to adjusted EBITDA of 0.6x, including our lease debt.
We're still at the lower end of our target range of 0.5x-1x, with the increase from last year due primarily to the dividend and the buyback program. Moving now on to the main operational initiatives in the half, and starting with brand. In September, we debuted our Spring/Summer 2023 collection, celebrating the British seaside. The show, which was Riccardo's last for Burberry, was streamed across local and global platforms, where it was watched 1.5 million times. In product, leather goods saw good momentum, with comparable store sales increasing 15% in Q2 and 11% in half one. This was supported by the expansion of our Lola handbag range, with 80 pop-ups launched in the period. The Lola is now our best seller, along with the introduction of the Frances shape for Autumn/Winter 2022.
Our leather goods offer grew well ahead of the group average. Outerwear saw comp growth of 13% in the second quarter, a good recovery from Q1, with strong performance across both men's and women's. We continued to invest in our customer experience and as part of our new outerwear campaign, we launched over 40 pop-ups, as well as impactful visual merchandising displays and outdoor experiences for top clients. We also continued to roll out the new store concept and completed 22 stores in half one with Taipei 101 and Bal Harbour in Miami. We remain on track to complete 65 stores in the new concept this year. Moving on to our ESG agenda. Regarding product, we continue to make progress on our commitment to ensure our key raw materials will be certified and fully traceable by 2025.
95% of our leather is now from tanneries with environmental and social certification. In relation to planet, in August, Burberry became the first luxury fashion brand, and one of the first companies globally, to receive approval from the Science Based Targets initiative for our net-zero emissions target. Regarding people, to support our colleagues, we brought forward the new U.K. real Living Wage pay rates by more than six months. Finally, under communities, at the beginning of November, we announced two new Burberry Foundation partners, International Youth Foundation and U.K.-based OnSide, the first step in taking the foundation's new youth empowerment program global. We'll also be engaging employees in all regions in a global festive volunteering competition, where proceeds will go to FareShare, a national food charity. Now on to the current year. Overall, we maintain our near-term guidance to full year 2024.
We are mindful of the challenging macro environment and its potential impact on trading, particularly COVID-19-related disruption in mainland China and recessionary risks in Europe and in Americas. Broadly speaking, there are very few changes to the outlook comments we made in July. We are still expecting retail space and wholesale to be broadly stable for the year. Wholesale is impacted by halting shipments to Russia, as well as a cautious outlook for Asian travel retail. The effective tax rate is expected to be around 22% , and capital expenditure is expected to be around a hundred and seventy million at the lower end of our previous guidance, as we benefit from efficiencies in the new store concept rollout. I would also like to mention for modeling purposes, that we are back to a 52-week year in full year 2023.
Our model should therefore be adjusted for this impact in the second half. Finally, currency is now expected to be a revenue tailwind of around GBP 170 million, and profit of GBP 70. In terms of concluding this presentation, we have created a strong platform for revenue growth, with significant channel rationalization and a reorientation of the business to a full price company. The cost base is being targeted towards commercial areas of the business, with cost savings reinvested and margin accretion coming from top line acceleration. The capital allocation framework in place now for the last five years continues to guide our deployment of cash in the business, our returns to shareholders, and the maintenance of a strong balance sheet. We expect to maintain a strong level of cash conversion throughout our plan.
I'll now hand over to Jonathan to take you through the plans as we develop the next phase of Burberry. Thank you.
Thank you, Julie. Since joining Burberry, I've had a great opportunity to get to know the business. I visited many of our stores, I've seen our manufacturing facilities both here and in Italy, and of course, I've met many of our teams. I've been really blown away by the passion and energy that we have in the business. There's three things that have become very clear to me. The first is Burberry's extraordinary heritage and the 166 legacy that we have. I never realized that we had such an incredible archive. Yesterday, somebody called, and we've just purchased an incredible dress from the 1970s. If you think about it, these things are things that our designers can use, they can dial up on. It's an incredible resource that we can have.
Very few brands in luxury have this, and it allows us to create an emotional connection with our consumers. The second is our Britishness. We're the only luxury brand of our scale that can claim this. It's a unique attribute, and that will enable us to stand out in a highly competitive market. The third, which is the very strong platform that Burberry has for growth. Burberry has always had very strong fundamentals, and unlike other brands, consumers know us for multiple product categories, from apparel to accessories, and this breadth will give us room for scale. We have a very well-established network of stores in key luxury locations that I've been impressed with, that does not require further expansion. We have a strong digital legacy. For me, the next phase is about realizing our potential as the modern British luxury brand.
I think all of these three words are very important to what we stand for. This is gonna be about building on the strong foundations that we have and leveraging what makes Burberry special. We'll take the richness of our heritage and our unique attributes and reinterpreting them with a modern vision and aesthetic, and we have an opportunity to really harness the power of the brand, which will drive us growth. Our focus on the next phase is on revenue growth and acceleration. In the medium term, we will target revenue of GBP 4 billion, which is in line with our existing guidance of high single-digit revenue CAGR. I really believe we can go further than this. In the long term, Burberry has the potential to be a GBP 5 billion revenue brand, and our ambition is to get there.
This will drive significant operating leverage, increasing our margin to over 20%. As I've said, we have a very strong platform that we can build on. For me, this is more about than just the evolution. In each area of the business, I believe that. For example, in brand, the elevation has been clear over the past few years, and it's been very impressive. Now we need to focus on improving brand clarity, broadening our brand appeal, and leveraging on our unique Britishness. Similarly in distribution, we've done great work on the network, and in the next phase, we'll accelerate our refurbishment plan and drive e-commerce growth. Ultimately, in our luxury fashion business, it's product that matters the most, and this is where I see we have the biggest opportunity.
We've made good progress in leather goods, but I believe we can do even more in this category to complete the assortment and drive stronger desirability. In addition, we have untapped opportunities in key categories, particularly shoes, women's ready-to-wear, and outerwear, which I'll talk about later. In the next phase, our focus is on three areas, brand, product, and distribution. We will harness the power of the brand, we will bring all product categories to growth and their full potential, and we will strengthen distribution. I'm gonna start with the brand. Before joining Burberry, I think I've mentioned this before, I've really recognized and acknowledged the brand evolution journey that took place. Now that I'm here, there is no doubt to me that Burberry is firmly anchored in luxury.
This chart here from our research shows that there has been a dramatic increase in the share of our consumers who now see the brand as luxury. Going forward, there is an opportunity for us to be clear about what we stand for and appeal to a broader set of luxury consumers. I believe our brand messaging at times could be a lot more powerful, and at times it's felt a little bit niche. The best example here for me, and I'm sure a lot of you are aware of this, is when you land into Heathrow. We've got this incredible buyout of the landing hall, and you see all Burberry advertising everywhere, and so proud to work for the brand that has this. It's really impressive.
When I look at it, I don't think it gives a strong enough pull to the brand and stores like that we have here. I actually get a few people calling me and calling this out and saying, "Well, it's very impressive, but, you know, I didn't quite understand it." We've already worked on that. I think when you fly in next time, you'll see our incredible festive campaign, and you'll see a lot more clarity and a lot more pull, I believe, in the coming months with these campaigns and activations. I believe our brand messaging could be a lot powerful.
Now as we move on to next year, we'll be making our campaigns and brand activations more relevant, more coherent, and more connected to who we are and what we offer. One of the key ways that we can improve our brand clarity is refocusing on our Britishness. As I said earlier, this is right at the hand of product and brand. It is who we are, and where we make our iconic products. Our heritage trench coats are made and woven in Yorkshire, and even the fabric, as you know, is woven in the U.K. Our beautiful woolen scarves are made in Scotland. We have a relationship with our supplier here for 122 years.
Again, the research tells us that this is what our customers associate us with, and we will make much more of this unique attribute in our brand storytelling, and we have a really compelling story to tell. In the next phase, we will strengthen our connection with Britishness through product, cultural partnerships, working with British talent, and finding ways for our brand to be more visible in the home market. London and the U.K., as you know, has some of the best creative talent in the world. We have an opportunity to really celebrate this more, and we will create a platform for the best British creativity across all fields. Daniel Lee will play a key part in this next phase. I'm so pleased that he's now with us as our new Creative Director.
When we first met, to me, it was really clear that he had a very strong understanding of the brand and Burberry's heritage, and the opportunity to dial up on Britishness in a modern way. We share the same vision of how we can achieve this across brand and product. Building on what we have today, we will bring to life modern British luxury as a desirable and relatable lifestyle. One of Daniel's key unique talents is his product sensibility. He has a strong record, as you know, in creating bestsellers, particularly in accessories. He has an incredible vision of how this can be executed with a full 360 approach. I've been really impressed with what he's been able to do in the two months that he's been with us already, and I'm really excited to see how this will evolve in the coming months.
Burberry's always had an ability, I think, to create a strong and powerful brand messaging through marketing and consumer activations with a high level of impact. This you can see here is our recent Lola pop-up that we did in Hangzhou, China, and it's a great example. We had incredible reach and created a brilliant visibility and buzz. We had 43 million reach from posts from VIPs and influencers, and a 24 million reach from the press coverage that we had. There are very few brands that can do this, I think, at this scale and achieve the level of impact and visibility that Burberry does. To build on this going forward, we will put product front and center in all of our communications and place a bigger emphasis on hero products. We'll be clearer about who the Burberry man and woman are.
We have a particular opportunity in womenswear, which I'll talk about later. We will continue to come up with innovative and disruptive campaigns. Another significant area of opportunity is our customer, and the objective here is to accelerate the way in which we acquire and retain new clients. This is a new area of focus for us, and it will drive significant commercial results. We actually have a great starting point, and our customer base is well-balanced across genders and ages. Our retail teams have done a great job in developing a stronger local business post-COVID-19, and this has been achieved across all regions and something that we will continue to build on. Looking ahead, we will strengthen and deepen the relationship with our consumers by creating a compelling and engaging proposition from product to purchase.
We will drive loyalty and retention and increase our customer lifetime value. This starts with acquiring customers at a pace. Since joining, I've set aggressive targets to grow our database, and this year already, we've already expanded it by 20% versus last year. To support this plan, we're prepared to make the necessary investment. We will increase our marketing and consumer-facing spend in the next few years, especially to support the launch of the new creative vision. As revenue scales, consumer-facing spending as a percentage of sales will stabilize at high single-digit levels. I'm confident that this level of investment will still allow us to deliver operating leverage and therefore improve our operating margin. Now on to product. We have a very strong product base with well-managed inventories and a good balance between carryover and newness.
Our ambition now is to grow accessories to more than 50% of our business. We have a good foundation in leather goods, but we can make this category even bigger and significantly grow our shoe business. One of the key differences here will be Daniel. As I mentioned, he's a product-focused designer with a rare talent for accessories and an excellent track record of creating bestsellers in these categories. It's not just accessories. We've also identified opportunities across other key categories which will help accelerate our growth. We've set clear goals against each category in the medium term to double leather goods, more than double shoe sales, double women's ready-to-wear, and grow outerwear by 1.5 x versus today. Starting with leather goods, it remains a critical element of our luxury positioning, and our ambition is to roughly double this business.
We are starting from a good foundation, and we've had good traction so far this year. Sales of leather goods are up double-digit, driven by our Lola families, which are just over here, and also our Frances bag there. I think the offer in the base that we have is very strong. With a new stronger offer, I'm confident this goal is achievable. Daniel has the creative vision to bring an even greater level of desirability to the offer. He has already visited our manufacturing base in Italy and has been impressed by our capabilities that we have there as much as I have been. We'll be looking to him to extend his strong record of creating highly desirable icons in women's bags. Additionally, we will expand small leather goods and take advantage of the clear opportunity that we have in men's.
Shoes has been a huge growth category, as you know, in the industry, but it is a relatively small share of Burberry's business. Our ambition is to more than double our sales of shoes, and again, this is something I'm comfortable we can achieve. I've done this in my previous roles, and the platform is there. We have a great space allocation in our stores, and we'll be able to leverage quickly on this to drive incremental sales. To capture this opportunity, we will build the offer to cover both formal and casual wear, we will strengthen our existing sneaker business, and we will seize an opportunity that I think we have in the outdoor categories that people naturally associate Burberry with. Again, shoes is an area where Daniel has a strong track record and the talent to create.
Women's ready-to-wear is another category where I see a lot of opportunity. The current offer is not as strong and balanced as it could be, and at times, the offer in our stores does not reflect what you see on the runway. I want to rebalance this and double sales. The first thing we need to do here is to really develop a distinctive aesthetic for Burberry womenswear. Based on this, we'll create an everyday luxury wardrobe that is relatable and wearable, and we will rebalance the assortment, particularly in underrepresented categories like dresses. We will make sure that this new offer is properly represented in depth across our store network.
I've mentioned women's here, but to be clear, we will have a similar approach with men's ready-to-wear, and we will continue to evolve this business to take advantage of the industry momentum in this category. As you know, outerwear is already a strong part of our business. Globally, we're perceived as a leader in luxury outerwear. We have a real strength in this category, supported by iconic products that customers love, and I've actually been really impressed with our performance, and we intend to really build on this. We would do this in two ways, by reinforcing and protecting our hero products, which are already loved by our customers, such as our iconic trench, and developing other outerwear categories, such as quilts and downs, where we've also seen good growth recently.
This is a key opportunity for us and something that we want to own. We've done some really strong standalone outerwear campaigns, such as the recently launched Night Creatures campaign, and we want to build on this. Already, Daniel has shot his first campaign, which is our first dedicated rainwear campaign in four years, and we will launch this in January. Moving on to distribution. We will continue to focus on elevation and execution across all channels and regions. We've set new targets for the medium term to convert all of our stores to the new store concept by FY 2026, to significantly improve our store productivity and reach sales of GBP 25,000 sq m , and in e-commerce, to double sales and achieve a 15% retail penetration.
In terms of retail, I've been to many of our stores, and I believe we are in a very good place overall. We have the right number of stores, they're in excellent locations, and the ones that we have refurbished are performing well in the new store concept. Our focus on the next phase is on transforming our productivity and accelerating refurbishments. To date, our stores are still a mix of concepts. Just as an example, I was in Las Vegas in July, and we have three stores in Las Vegas. One of them is in the Forum Shops in Caesars Palace. Great store, great location. It's in the old store concept. You travel five minutes away to Crystals Mall. There's a brand-new Burberry store in the new store concept.
This creates a little bit of confusion, and I think people, you know, will really be excited to see a much stronger consistency when they travel around our stores, not just nationally but globally. We need to step up our investments to accelerate the conversion of our network and present a consistent brand image and experience for our customers. As I mentioned, I've been really impressed by the new store concept. I think the design is compelling, there's a great customer journey, and it feels very natural, and the layout showcases product very well in a contemporary way. I'd also like to highlight here that some of the old store concepts were obviously built around showing more ready-to-wear. As we adapt that concept to the new store concept, we'll get a much better balance between all of our categories.
We believe that the concept is strong. We will also bring in some additional touches and enhancements that will feel very organic but in line with our new creative vision. Our goal is to reach GBP 25,000 sq m in the medium term. This is more than a 50% improvement on our productivity today, but it is still below best in class. We have a clear plan to achieve this. Success in accessories will automatically give us a high level of productivity. In addition, we will maximize opportunities to drive traffic and conversion through small leather goods, belts, and small accessories, for example, and we will improve our clienteling, retail excellence, and the omnichannel journeys. I'm confident that we can achieve this target.
We will convert all of our stores to the new store concept by the end of FY 2026, and we're committed to investing behind this plan. In terms of wholesale, great work has been done in the last five years, and we have a very well-managed and elevated wholesale distribution network. I was quite curious when I went to America because I know that that was a call-out that we needed to work on some of our positioning. This was over five years ago. I was quite curious to see what I saw, and I was very impressed with the stores that we have there in key locations, and most of them actually are in the new store concept. I think the wholesale transformation has been very well managed.
Our partners are really excited about Daniel, and the anticipation is building for his first collections next year. We intend to capitalize on this, and we see opportunities to develop a stronger presence in key wholesale doors, particularly to attract new customers as we grow our business in accessories and womenswear. In the medium term, we expect our wholesale penetration to decrease over time to 15% of our full-price sales as our growth outpaces wholesale. As you know, Burberry has a strong reputation for being a digital-first company. We can achieve a stronger level of productivity and also greater integration into the retail network through stronger omnichannel capabilities. We have a significant opportunity to improve our e-commerce performance. Following the removal of markdowns, we are under-penetrated in this channel relative to some peers.
Our target is for e-commerce to represent 15% of our sales in the medium term and around 20% in the long term. Again, I think new product is what will drive more traffic to our e-commerce platforms. We also have a comprehensive plan to improve conversion and drive performance. We will refresh our site in line with the new brand aesthetic and place a greater focus on product desirability and innovation, and we've already started work on this. We will ensure we have a compelling product assortment for our website, and we'll also invest in strengthening our local teams, especially in China and the U.S., which are our key digital markets. We will also improve the customer experience.
We have an opportunity to deepen the relationship with our community through innovation, which we're strong at, building on successful initiatives like you might have seen recently with our collaboration with Minecraft, which was our first 360-degree gaming initiative. Since first teasing the collaboration, we've generated a huge level of interest from our consumers, and we have over 160,000 sign-ups already, which is an unprecedented number driven by a single activation. We've also had a huge amount of downloads onto the game. Moving on to our core markets. Our goal is to accelerate momentum while maintaining a well-balanced portfolio. In Americas, we have great brand awareness, and the network is there. Compared to Asia, we are behind in terms of our refurbishments, as I mentioned. We're going to accelerate our store refurbishments here.
In EMEA, we've recently developed our business with locals post-COVID, and already have seen our tourists starting to come back, which is great. Similar to the Americas, we need to speed up our refurbishment program to be in good shape when the tourist flows fully resume. In Asia, we have a significant opportunity to further scale our business. China is a very important market for us. We have a very well-established network here, with some recently opened stores in impressive locations such as Plaza 66 in Shanghai. Our stores in China consistently rank among the top seven by revenue in key luxury malls. We will continue to focus on the market, ready to capture growth when the region fully reopens.
Finally, I believe we have a clear opportunity to grow our business in Japan, which is relatively small at the moment, and our focus on accessories will support us gaining market share in this region. I've talked in detail about what we're going to do about brand, product, and distribution. How we do it will be just as important, and execution is the key. We are already working on initiatives to ensure seamless execution to our plan, including improving our product development for capabilities, ensuring a better connection between design and merchandising, and simplifying our key processes to ensure adherence to the critical path and drive cost efficiency. I'm going to provide more detail on this at our prelims in May. With responsibility, it will remain the heart of everything that we do.
Again, I've been really impressed with Burberry's purpose and values, and committed to making a positive difference. I believe that we have an opportunity to make more of this in our communications and our product initiatives. Customers want to know these things, and it's really part of what connects them to the brand. We will continue to deliver on our bold sustainability commitments. We will also ensure our people are supported and inspired to deliver, and we will continue to positively impact our communities. In summary, we have a very strong platform for growth. We have a clear plan to achieve this, focusing on brand, product and distribution, and it will be supported by a relentless focus on execution. We have a very talented designer, and we have a very passionate teams, and there is a real energy and excitement at the moment around the business.
In the medium term, we will target revenue of GBP 4 billion, in line with our existing guidance of high single-digit revenue CAGR. In the long term, once brand and product initiatives are firmly in place, we can and should be a GBP 5 billion revenue brand. Obviously, there is currently some uncertainty in the external environment. However, with our plan and good execution, I believe that we can still grow and accelerate and achieve our ambitions. These are the targets we will measure success by in the medium term, and I'm going to update you on them as we progress. As I've said, we're prepared to invest behind this plan. We're really writing the next chapter of Burberry's story. I'm confident that we can deliver on this plan to drive revenue growth and acceleration, and re-realize Burberry's potential as the modern British luxury brand.
It's very exciting, and thank you very much, and we'd be delighted to take your questions now. Thank you. Questions already coming.
Oh, okay, yeah, thank you. The one thing that I didn't actually practice was trying to recognize people from this distance, so apologies if I don't recognize everybody. I'll take Antoine first, and I'll go to Louise. Thank you.
Yes. Good morning. It's Antoine Belge at BNP Paribas Exane. I assume we are limited to two questions. The first one is short-term, and the second one more longer term. Short-term, the organic growth was 5% in H1. You didn't reiterate the high single digits for the year, so should we assume that this target of high single digit is no longer valid for the current year? Maybe explain what are the current trends in China? You were flattish in the quarter, but apparently, as some of your peers mentioned, that it worsened in September and October. Any comment about the rest of the world so far? The second question, longer term, GBP 4 billion and then GBP 5 billion.
Is it possible to have a sense of what medium term means in terms of years and longer term? Under 20%+ or ++ , I mean, I don't know, I'm just throwing numbers here for GBP 4 billion, would, I don't know, mid-20% be a good proxy? You know, GBP 5 billion, high-20% or any sort of like, you know, trend. Thank you.
Yeah. Thank you. I'll take the comment on China and the current trends there. As you know, we had a challenging first quarter. The second quarter we had a good recovery and we ended up flat. It's still challenging for us. As you know, the foot flows in the malls are not as good as they could be. We did see, you know, a slight change coming through September and October. Again, we're confident that things will hopefully open up and improve in the coming months. In terms of the timing, we see medium term as three to five- years.
I felt, driving this strategy, it was also really important for not just you, but also for our employees to see the ambition that the company should have without a timeline. Julie, I don't know.
Mm-hmm
If you want to talk to the short term.
Yes. Just in terms of the guidance, the underlying business has grown strongly. You know, as we mentioned, if you strip out China, which has been the most disrupted by COVID, then we've actually delivered 16% in the first quarter growth and 15% in the second. That gives us the confidence, you know, together with the strategic direction we're going in, to be able to grow the business strongly in high single digits. The caveat we put on the outlook statement was simply because of the disruption in China. We saw a good recovery in the second quarter. However, in October, it got slightly worse again. More recently, they have, you know, relaxed some of the quarantine rules, and they've also reduced the degree of mass testing in China.
It's interesting, it's not so much store closures that are causing the disruption, but the testing actually causes people to be reluctant to go out, and that's what's causing a little bit of turbulence. With that underpinning it, we believe that, you know, come the following year, in full year 2024, we should see a recovery of China. This is the view, that gradually we'll have a more pragmatic approach to it, and therefore we see the high-single-digit growth rate coming through, 'cause that's how the business is performing on an underlying basis. I think in terms of the question on the margins, we're fully committed to delivering around a 20% margin next year, which was our promise to the market. We're fully committed to delivering that.
I think removing the markdown, et c., the gross margin being stable, we can accommodate the rises we've been having in marketing and visual merchandising within that number. We see us being around 20% next year. The idea is that because we've got the cost base under control, we're focusing on the commercial activations, the commercial front end, and the store rollout. You get leverage coming through the P&L, naturally dropping through to the operating margin. That's what, you know, drives above the 20% margin accretion as you go through into the next phase of the strategy.
All right. Thank you. Just maybe a follow-up. What you are indicating is that there is no special sort of like timing of the margin expansion, I don't know, more subdued in the first years and, you know, an acceleration, you know, in the outer years?
Do you want to take that?
I mean, we think it will naturally evolve. I mean, as I mentioned earlier, I think the platform has been there. We have also a very good base of carryover product. You know, in my opinion, obviously we're going to invest a little bit more in marketing here. We don't see that will have a huge impact on the margin. We think it will just organically lift up as we improve our productivity. To Louise, yeah.
Hi, morning. It's Louise Singlehurst from Goldman Sachs. Thank you for taking my questions. Um, if I could start with Jonathan first, please. Just in terms of the broader, um, the bigger picture in terms of the goal and the ambition setting. Is this more about the growth of Burberry, or is it looking at the categories versus peers and where you think you're going to be in the market? And I suppose if I was to pick on one area, to have a largely, you know, apparel brand, what's the confidence in terms of driving 50% of the business coming from accessories? And just related to that, does accessories give you more, um, opportunities to drive the brand heat on more frequent or higher frequency basis?
Are we likely to see any new product from Daniel Lee ahead of July, I guess, given the timing of the fashion calendar?
Yeah, no, a great question. I mean, I think as I sort of touched on right at the beginning, we have an opportunity because we have a strong ready-to-wear business. I think this is a great position of strength for us. You know, I'm very lucky also that the journey and the work started with accessories four years ago. I think it's really important to call out what our accessory offer was before that. You know, it was very weak, and now, you know, I'm, you know, looking around what you can see here, we're in a good place with our accessories already. I believe we can really develop on that. I think we can really accelerate on it. This was one of the key decisions of bringing Daniel in because his talent on this is unquestioned.
We already have a high level of expectation. In fact, last night I left, and I saw our Head of Leather Goods, and I said, "Yeah, how is it going? Can you give me whatever?" She said, "I'm so excited." You know, the designers are excited. I'm, you know, I'm confident that we're going to have a much more, even more compelling offer than we have today, which we will launch in February. I'm very excited about that. Yes, you know, for me, you know, the business that we're in is product, and we're retailers. You know, all of us, this isn't just me, but, you know, all of us see opportunities across all of our product categories.
You know, accessories, I really think we can accelerate. I called out shoes here. This was one of the first things I noticed and one of the first meetings that we had on shoes. I've learned very quickly, people talk about what you say in the meetings, and it quickly got round that Jonathan sees this huge opportunity in shoes. You know, it's really, really exciting because we've got the strong ready-to-wear offer, and we can accelerate the accessories. With regards to seeing, yeah, we have our first show in February. You know, that's not to say we're confident that we can continue.
We've had 11% growth this quarter on our bags, and we believe that we can continue that momentum as well.
Thank you. My second question was for Julie, if I may, just in terms of just back to the margins. Can you just talk about the opportunity within the gross margin? I guess coming back on the accessories expansion. I presume the bulk of the margin uplift now comes from pure operational leverage with the store productivity, but is scale as well in there for the gross margin? I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you very much for taking all of our questions over the last few years. A big thank you there.
Thanks, Louise. It's been an absolute pleasure to work with you all. It really has. In terms of the gross margin, I think as you know, one of the pressures on the gross margin is coming through inflation. Even just in this first half, we had 70 basis points of headwind coming just from inflation. This was freight, logistics, et c.. Actually, I think, you know, and credit to the team and the combination of commercial finance, merchandising, we've been able to hold that gross margin stable against these considerable headwinds. There's also a headwind whenever we've got lockdowns in China. There's a major headwind coming through there on the gross margin, on the operating margin. I think we've actually done well to maintain it.
We see inflationary pressures going forward on cost of goods in the region of, you know, high single digits, actually the business has got to drive efficiency and also look at, you know, the pricing of categories to be able to hold that gross margin stable in view of the macro situation that we're dealing with. I would say holding the gross margin stable, but at the same time, leveraging through the top line into the operating margin is the key to success. As Jonathan mentioned, you know, as you know, we've done a lot of work on rationalizing the cost base. We've put more money into commercial-facing investments such as marketing, visual merchandising, the store network. The idea is now with a high single digit growth rate on the top line, you can leverage that operating cost base.
Store productivity, it's one of the reasons we've called this out, is that, you know, the GBP 25,000 sq ft, that is the major unlock of the operating margin leverage. Because we've got a really good store footprint, as Jonathan mentioned, a lot of work's been done on the store footprint. We're in exactly the right locations now. Once they're refurbished, and we've got a more homogeneous representation of the brand, it will drive the retail productivity, and that drives the operating margin. That's the biggest ticket.
There's no margin reset for next year in terms of everything that we see in the guidance looking forth. That was obviously one of the investor queries going into today that we might have to see elevated investment for the top-line performance. That's not the message.
No, because we've actually allowed, and you probably saw from the chart on the marketing spend, we've accelerated the marketing spend already, and simultaneously, we're moving the margins upwards. Therefore, you can see we can actually leverage, you know, the margin and deliver a higher level of marketing and visual merchandising spend, which is what we're doing.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Okay. Maybe we'll go down the line actually now. Rog and Chiara and Zuzanna. Thank you.
Thank you. This is Rogério Fujimori from Stifel. I have two questions. With Daniel Lee's products, I think arriving in stores next summer, just want to confirm that in terms of managing the transition of collections, if we should expect a relatively smoother transition versus the last one with Riccardo Tisci a few years ago. The second, I think from your presentation in terms of 70% gross margin being sustainable and everything we've heard in terms of price value equation versus competition after elevating AUR so much, the quality of the wholesale network and the outlet footprint, are you happy with the current situation and no further rationalization needed or investment needed on those fronts? Thank you.
Yeah. In terms of the product transition, this is something actually, you know, we all felt, and we still feel that the platform that we have here is strong and something that we can build on. I believe previously there probably was more of a flipping and the changing of the inventories. We do not intend for this to happen. I've been very impressed by Daniel's maturity at looking through the collections that we have, the carryover that we have. We've gone through it together with our teams. He's got a very good outlook on that, recognizes it, sees that it's a base that we can build on. This is something that we can organically change and improve, you know, as the seasons progress.
In terms of that, we're expecting this to accelerate growth. In terms of the gap that we're obviously going to have between now and his first collection sitting in store, I mentioned earlier, we've already shot our new campaign that we'll show you in the early new year. This was shot by Daniel with existing product that we have with our great trenches. I think that actually tells something, to be honest with you. I think it's a great thing to do, and this is gonna be a really good, strong brand campaign. I think that will get people. It's almost anticipated because people are going to see that.
I promise you're gonna see an incredible strong brand image that will relate to everything I've talked through there. I think this is gonna get people really starting to see. They're already excited. They'll be more excited then. We'll have our show, and I believe we have the right offer today that we can continue to sort of drive that through. I'm confident about that. In terms of the margins, I think we've been managing the margins very well, the gross margins. You know, we're also looking, you know, not just, you know, working on price increases where we have the opportunity to increase price increases, but it's been done and well managed. I also see some opportunities on cost of goods as well, which we can develop on.
At the same time, we're looking to elevate the product and elevate the quality further as well. You know, this is something that's, I think, gonna be very enjoyable for us to work on. Concerning the outlets, I mentioned this last time, I think we have the right number of outlets. We're not out of line with many of our peers. I think the network is very well managed. As you know, we are now not marking down our inventories, so we need a channel to work through our discontinued product, and it's working well. Obviously, as our full price business grows, you know, that will achieve the mix of our sales on outlet versus our full price business.
I'm actually pretty pleased with the way it's managed, the quality of the outlet network and the offer that's in there as well. I think it's an important channel for us.
Chiara.
Good morning. Hi, it's Chiara Battistini from J.P. Morgan. Thank you for taking my questions. The first one is on your stores and the sales density target of GBP 25,000. Can you just remind us what the starting point is today on that and how you're thinking about footfall versus conversion versus basket going forward to get to the GBP 25,000 sq m ? The second question on Daniel Lee, you mentioned that you've been very impressed by how much he's already done since joining in the last couple of months. Has he been mainly working on the product or also looking at the stores, providing comments on the store refurbishment program, the marketing campaigns? To what extent he's been exposed also to these activities?
Just on the product, just to make sure we're clear, the current leather goods offering is the starting point on which he's going to evolve but not revolutionize, at least in the first couple of years. Thank you.
Yeah, great questions. As far as the densities are concerned, we're not gonna share with you our current densities. I think people are pretty much aware of what they are. We're making good progress. In the last two- years, our densities have been improving. I think you're also aware some of our stores are quite big. If you go to Asia, for example, and in many of our stores, we actually have very strong densities. You know, we have stores with densities of GBP 40,000 sq m. We are already driving productivity. As I mentioned earlier, I'm very happy with the size of the network.
Going forward, we'll be sure that the openings of any new stores that we have are in the sizes that they need to be. We feel confident about the productivity increasing because of the improved offer, because of the better focus on retail quality and standards that we have in the company now. This, to me, has been one of the most impressive things I've seen since I've been here. I think the quality of our retail teams, some of them you'll meet today when you're buying your scarves. The quality of our retail teams are very close, if not best in class, in my opinion. They're very focused on productivity. They're very focused on clienteling, which I think has been, you know, good work that's been done, particularly in the last few years.
You know, as far as the density's there, we'll be driven by the better offer, the improved qualities in our retail teams, the improved focus on network size in terms of store sizes. Obviously, we believe, you know, we've made these moves to create brand heat. To create and drive extra traffic to our stores as well. There's a number of combinations here that give us the confidence that we can achieve this. In terms of Daniel's focus to date, again, a very unique talent. You know, since announcing him, it's been made even clearer to me that this is very exciting because our wholesale partners have reached out to us super excited.
Our head of Korea was in a meeting with the landlord in Korea, which also is a very strong and important market for us. I didn't call it out, but our Korea business is incredible. She was in a meeting with one of the landlords when it was announced, and the guy was jumping off his seats with anticipation. Everybody is really pleased about that. He's also got a very strong, I touched earlier, that 360 vision. I think this is really important in today's kind of modern luxury retailing, where it's not just about product in the stores, it's about, you know, how we're communicating them.
I think if you look at, you know, some of the work he's done, it's building on high desirability in terms of products and product messaging, and then activations around that. We're not gonna be doing new store concepts. I know that when he went to the Sloane Street store, he was in there for two and a half hours with our teams, going through it and making just really good call-outs about what can be done. It's not about changing the concept, it's about evolving it, making it feel more in line with the progress that we're getting. He's really involved in that.
We shouldn't underplay the importance of branding, because when we get that branding right, you know. I don't often use the word cool, but, you know, I believe that, you know, when people see us, when you're flying into Heathrow going forward, you're gonna go, "That is a cool brand. That is a cool British brand," and that's gonna drive into the store. Again, he has a very strong touch on that. Lastly, on the leather goods, we have the platform here. He's seen it. He likes it. He thinks that it's a platform that we can develop on. We believe that we're going to get an even exciting offer to layer up on top of that. It will be a development of our existing offer.
Zuzanna next, I think. Thank you.
Sorry. Hello. Zuzanna Pusz from UBS. Thank you for taking my questions. I have three short ones. Maybe just follow up on the store concept. I don't know, would you be able to perhaps guide to CapEx in the midterm? I think previously, as a part of the midterm plan, I think the CapEx was meant to be around, I think, GBP 250 million or so per annum. I don't think it ever actually reached that level. It was sort of consistently lower every year. Maybe if you could give us some, sort of, at least an idea around the level we should expect. That's my first question. Second question is specifically on the sort of ramp-up of SKUs from Daniel Lee in stores we should expect over time.
I know it's probably difficult at this stage. It's still early. If you could give us some idea, you know, first quarter, what % of SKUs would come from the new collections and how this would progress over time. Finally, just to follow up, first of all, I wanted to say many thanks on behalf of everyone for disclosing the online penetration and sales densities. It's very helpful. It's been always our dream. If I could only add one dream to the list, that would be marketing as a % of sales. Just to clarify, will you be disclosing this every year? Just so that we can sort of manage our expectations. Thank you.
Okay. Well, Julie will start on the CapEx, and I'll go back to the interesting question on the digital penetration.
Yes, in terms of the CapEx, there is a step up. First of all, we've been running the stores at around GBP 110. We're going to move the store spend to about GBP 120 because we want to accelerate them to finish them all by full year 2026, basically. That's the idea of the stores. In terms of the IT spend, it's fairly consistent. That includes the digital capabilities. On top of that, we're also accelerating ESG over this period. Finally, the final piece is in office refurbishment. We're going to refurbish the Horseferry House building in line with a plan that we've been developing now for a little period of time. There will be the GBP 200 million, I think, as Jonathan mentioned.
I would expect as the Horseferry House finishes, which is probably going to be a two and a half-year program, then it will start to come back. Stores, we anticipate staying at around 110 for a number of years as we push the new store concept through the network. Yeah.
Great. On the SKU question, as you know, our business, we've got a very good blend of business because carryover and permanent product replenishment, when you've got a strong business there, it's very good for margin protection. It's very good for iconic product, things that we can build on. You know, the trench offer that you see here is incredible. Handmade in the U.K. It's got some really great product that, of course, we need to keep and develop and do more storytelling with. If that's 50% of our business, as we then work with Daniel, you know, you're talking obviously the newness side on that. The seasonal side will be around about the 50% mark.
You know, we also believe now that it's important for us, and this is something also that we've learned, is making sure that you're getting another help for this productivity goal that we have is not overbuying in terms of ranging of SKUs, but actually reducing. We've been doing this over time. Reducing the SKUs, getting the depth in, believing in the product that you're buying and you're putting into your stores. Making sure you've got a greater consistency across the regions, another area that we're working on, and that will help us, you know, have a stronger, more consistent messaging, but also help, I believe will help us drive the extra level of productivity. You know, I think it will be a nice blend and a nice balance.
Again, just to be clear, Daniel's very impressed with, you know, the core product base that we have. It was something that, you know, he mentioned to me very early on about this just iconic product that we have, and probably need to have an opportunity to talk about it more. I touched on, you know, the trench campaign that we're about to be having going forward. In terms of e-commerce, I mentioned earlier, you know, we are strong digitally. We have good capabilities. We have great teams. I think it's a really important metric to have, and it is a metric, as you know, that other brands share. We won't be sharing it quarterly.
As I mentioned earlier, annually, we will be coming back and showing you how we're tracking against these goals that we're putting in place.
Mm-hmm. Excellent. Thank you.
Okay. We'll go to Thomas next, as he's near the mic. We'll go to the other side, because I've been a bit biased toward the left.
Thank you. Good morning, Jonathan, Julie. Thomas Chauvet from Citi. Two question. The first one, going back to the long-term EBITDA margin target of 20%+, whether that means mid-20s, high 20s, time will tell. Is that just driven by OpEx leverage, Julie? Are you saying the gross margin of Burberry will be in five years still at 70% to drive that, whatever, high 20% EBITDA margin? I would have thought the rebalancing towards leather goods, accessories with a much bigger scalable business there would help the channel mix changes towards more retail, more e-commerce. De-emphasizing wholesale would have driven gross margin. As you know well, Jonathan, in the industry, brands that have 30% or close to 30% gross EBITDA margin have well above 70% gross margin.
That's my first question. Should I go with the second, or?
Yeah, go for the second.
Okay.
Yeah.
On the second is the capital allocation framework. Obviously, as Julie is leaving and you've joined the firm, there has been a few management changes at Burberry. Do you feel that the capital allocation framework should change between organic investment, dividend, buybacks, potential for acquisition? Particularly, is GBP 400 million the new normal perhaps for share buybacks at Burberry compared to the GBP 150 million you used to do? Acquisitions. Do you feel you have a lot on your plate in the next three to five- years on Burberry, that Burberry doesn't need to utilize that cash perhaps to complement its portfolio with another brand and no longer be a monobrand company?
We've seen, obviously, in the industry, a lot of monobrand companies acquiring businesses in the last few years. Thank you.
Okay. Do you want to start on the margin?
Yeah, I'll start on the margin. I think initially, we believe 70% is the target. The reason for this is the pressure we're receiving through logistics, freight, and as, you know, inflation also works its way through to raw materials in the supply chain. Clearly, we have got an opportunity to drive further efficiencies in cost of goods and our supply chain ahead. We're definitely going to be able to do that. The product, as you say, the more we move towards the leather range. Initially, as you know, we invested in the leather goods capability, and we didn't move the prices commensurately. Initially, you know, that was a headwind to the gross margin. We've now sort of stabilized that.
Leather prices have moved upwards, so we've got a good range of gross margins now within the product categories. They're broadly in line. I think there is an opportunity going forward, certainly. As we move on this journey, there's probably further opportunity with price, we would say, as we go through. As you say, as leather increases as a proportion, that could drive further efficiencies in the supply chain and further gross margin improvement. At this stage, because of the inflationary headwinds we're facing, we prefer to leave it at 70%. That's the target of around 70%. Could we do more over time, over a longer period of time? I think of course we could. Yeah.
Yeah. In terms of the capital, the model that Julie and the teams have put in place, I think it works very well for us. You know, obviously my call-outs potentially would be do we need more CapEx to increase the store refurbishments? I think our timeline is about right. We actually probably couldn't do any more. We couldn't do it at a faster pace. I'm comfortable with that. Our marketing spend, we all agree it makes sense to step it up for the next two- years. Again, that's in line with our peers. I, you know, I'm personally comfortable with that. I think that's in pretty good shape as well. On the M&A side, you know, got a lot to do. I'm eight months in.
We've been really working hard on this new strategy. Again, working on the teams with it, and think that that's very much going to be the focus of us for the coming year as well.
On the buyback, Julie, perhaps, or Jonathan?
I think in terms of the priorities we've got, first of all, organic growth in the business, organic investment in the business. The second one is of course a progressive dividend policy. The third one is, you know, we do have occasional inorganic investments. You saw us buying out the China interest. We also did the acquisition of Burberry Manifattura to build verticalization and capabilities in leather, critical important enabler for the business. You may see us doing smaller amounts there in terms of vertical capability, vertical integration capability. Of course the balance is effectively we would use share buybacks or special dividends because the cash generation of the business, as you know, our cash conversion typically is in the 80%-90% range. We would anticipate it being very strong.
As long as we feel we can fund all the things I mentioned above, we would probably engage in further share buybacks. I think that is going to be a choice as we move forward with the strategy. I think the capital allocation framework puts us in a good position to do that. The priority number one is the business.
Next we'll go to Carole Madjo. That'd be great. Thanks.
Hi. Good morning. Carole Madjo from Barclays. I have just one, two questions on the brand image. Coming back to one of your slide, you mentioned that 70% of consumers now see the brand as true luxury. Can you come back on that and explain a bit more what drove this improvement? Was it the outlet reduction, the expansion towards other goods, anything in particular? Going forward, how should we think about the drivers as well for the future? I don't think you have mentioned pricing that much in the presentation, but should we expect still further brand elevation and so higher pricing points in the future to still drive this improvement in the brand perception? I guess just one follow-up on that.
Also on the store network, I think you're focusing a lot on this store conversion. How about the location of your stores? Are you happy with where they are in, I don't know, a mall whatsoever? Are you happy with the locations, and do you feel like this is good enough to be really true luxury as you intend to be? Thanks.
In terms of, I think, the perception of the elevation strategy, I would actually, and we haven't mentioned him today, but I would credit Riccardo for helping get this journey in place. As I mentioned earlier, four years ago, I was very much looking and impressed with the work that Burberry had done in terms of elevating the brand and really positioning it in terms of luxury positioning. I think it was very well done. Clearly it's been recognized. I may have mentioned this before, but, you know, I recall three years ago being in China and just seeing, you know, Burberry's positioning, where it was and its adjacency. I think people now very clearly see the brand as being a luxury brand, which is fantastic.
In terms of pricing, I, you know, I believe we're still on the elevation journey. You know, we have had a very strong growth and a very strong focus through our retail teams on driving a high level of elite customers to our stores. As you know, elite customers that spend over certain thresholds are really important to luxury brands, and we've been growing that base really importantly, and the spending power there is strong, and we're able to retain them more and kind of work with them in a very dynamic way.
I think it's important with a brand like Burberry that we have, and this has also been a trend with other brands, where you have a very good mix of product. I mentioned earlier about, well, I call them traffic builders. Traffic builders that people can come into the stores, you know, and buy the small leather goods, the phone cases, et c., to bring them in, and then we can convert them up. At the same time, and our leather goods has been the best example here, we've been able to raise our leather goods pricing. A few years ago, we were tactical about it. As we were coming into that category, we kept our positioning fairly competitive, I would say.
In the last 18 months, we've been able to raise our leather goods prices with no resistance. I do think, you know, I'm talking when you think about shoes, leather goods, bringing in more desirability, you know, I believe this will give us also an opportunity to continue to develop and manage our price positioning in the right way there. Making sure that you've got to balance it. For me, it's all about making sure you have that balance. I really believe about the next phase that we're going into, we will be able to cover that. We'll be able to cover a higher level of price positioning in places like leather goods, especially in shoes. Our shoe business right now is mainly sneaker-focused.
As we go into the formal shoe area, the outdoor boot area, this will mean a lift in prices there. A good opportunity there. In terms of the store network, since we last met, I've visited many of our stores. I have to say, I've been very impressed by our positioning. We have to hold those positionings because they are, you know, in Los Angeles, Rodeo Drive, for example, New York, 57th Street. Going on to, I mentioned Korea. For me, Korea was the big call-out. Everybody knows that this is, you know, a very strong market for luxury. We've had incredible growth in Korea, and our positioning there is second to none. I've been really pleased with it.
We will, in some areas, more in probably Southeast Asia, we will look. This is what we have been doing to date. Why we haven't been able to give you too many of the results of the new store concepts because a lot of them have actually been because we've been relocating in some malls or going to a different mall, a better mall, which has also sort of helped this elevation journey. You know, I would say overall the satisfaction is there. Shanghai is the best example. In Shanghai, we were in another location. To go into Plaza 66, that is the best.
I mean, I'm sure many of you know it. We have this incredible space in Plaza 66 in Shanghai. That's a clear brand upgrade and in line with the elevation strategy.
Thank you.
Okay, Kathryn, and then Piral. Yeah.
Kathryn Parker at Jefferies, thank you for taking my question. My first question is just on the path to the GBP 4 billion in sales. Understand that space growth will be largely flat, but could you talk about how you expect the mix of price mix and volumes to contribute? My second question is just on personnel changes. I wondered if you had any other key hires to call out, perhaps in the marketing team or in the country teams, and if there's any gaps in personnel that you're still looking to fill or replace. Thank you.
Julie would take.
Yeah.
The path to the GBP 4 billion.
Yeah. In terms of the GBP 4 billion, we see it being a combination of the two. I think, first of all, as Jonathan mentioned, the price is an important part of the brand elevation. We've seen actually AUR has been a big contributor to the underlying full price growth of our business to date, and we envisage continuing on that journey. The only reason you haven't seen it coming through in the absolute sales numbers reported is because we took the markdown out of the business, which was over a GBP 200 million business previously. That was a significant headwind. That's gone now. As Jonathan mentioned, well, that's behind the company. I think a combination of price and volume. Certainly. It's not like-for-like price.
What we've been doing, and we'll continue to do, is as the product elevates, as the quality of the leather changes, as the design changes, that's what commands the higher price point. It's really a change in the product that drives it.
In terms of the personnel, I mean, I touched on it in terms of the retail side. Been very impressed with the teams there. The other call-out for me is that obviously the key to this is having strong regional retail leadership, and we have some really strong leaders in our retail networks. Some of them, if you think of just calling out, forgive me for not saying it, but think of our teams in China that are incredible, very passionate about the brand, but they, you know, they can't leave China to get to connect with us. I've not met my lead President in China. She's doing a fantastic job in very challenging circumstances, but really, you know, managing the teams in an incredible way. This is important.
For me, the great thing is that we have the network, we have the people. Nothing here is broken by any means. You know, we have an incredible platform. When we continue to build on it and improving it, these guys are ready. It's very encouraging. Certainly the motivation for the teams and the focus is already there. It's very pleasing.
I'm gonna go to Piral Dadhania, then I'm gonna go to Anne-Laure Bismuth, who's had a good workout today by putting her arm up and down so many times.
All right. Thank you, Julian. Piral Dadhania from RBC. Two questions and a follow-up, please. If we could just talk about handbags and leather goods. Obviously, a lot of work's been done in recent years to improve the offer, and you aim to add more layers on top of that. Could you maybe just talk about life cycle management? You know, in years gone by we've certainly seen Burberry come to market with a lot of newness in the leather goods category, but what's perhaps been a little bit not executed as well is the life cycle management of those handbag platforms. Jonathan, what would you do differently to capitalize on that? My second question's on the U.K. VAT refund disadvantage.
Obviously, the U.K. government keeps changing its decision around whether to allow consumers to get a refund on their purchases. What actions are being taken as traffic is predominantly going into continental Europe for luxury travelers to ensure you capture the right share of wallet there? The third question is a follow-up just on store size. Could you perhaps tell us what the optimal store size you see as being appropriate for the new concept for Burberry? Thank you.
I'll do that. Thank you. On the leather goods, I mean, again, just to repeat that, you know, this is a journey that really had started four years ago. I think in that it was probably a little bit of test and learn. Now I believe that it's actually stabilized. I mean, we've called out quite a bit today about, you know, our Lola group and our Lola family. Big successes on that this year. We had a big marketing push on that that was successful. Now, it's really, you can see here the T.B., which is a part of our Frances bag here, which is part of our T.B. line. It is quite consistent. Always in any leather goods business, people want to see refreshment.
I think it's really important to make sure that the families that you have are relatively stable. Some of them now, you know, as we've had that test and learn process, they have been evolved. You know, our leather goods business is actually quite well managed. I think it, you know, needs to evolve, but in an organic way without obviously damaging the margins. As we build onto that, you know, I'm quite confident that we will create stronger icons that will have a higher level of life cycle. That's the objective there. In terms of the optimum store size, I do have a number in mind. I don't think I'll share it, but, you know, it really depends on where those locations are. I think it's great.
You know, London's a key city for us. We need to have flagships here. This is our home market. In the summer of next year, we'll be opening our new Bond Street store, which will be fantastic. As we go into some of those areas that I mentioned before, maybe some of the cities, possibly more in America, you know, there is an opportunity for us to make sure we've got the right size store that we can, you know, manage in the right way. Generally speaking, flagships, we need. They need to be bigger. They need to make statements. When you go into, again, I mentioned Asia, you know, you probably only need 300-400 sq m for stores like that.
This is really where we are at the moment.
I'll take the VAT Retail Export Scheme. This was a very, very big enabler for attracting tourists to the U.K. No question. Just in terms of providing you with a little bit of context around this, we have seen a return of tourism. Not like it was before COVID, but we've definitely seen a return of tourism. U.S., tourists, for example, because of exchange rates, have been coming into Europe more so. We've seen a 76% increase in Europe versus pre-pandemic levels. In the U.K., it's 41%. Definite differential. Similarly with Middle Eastern customers, again versus pre-pandemic, 105% in Europe, but 51% in the U.K. We're seeing a definite difference in the move of people towards continental Europe, which is really, really disappointing.
What we'd like to see is, you know, to work with the government. VAT RES is being removed, but we'd like to work on an incentive scheme that encourages tourists back to the U.K. because it really helps with not just luxury fashion shopping, but also other industries like hospitality. We're very committed to working with the government to ensure that we can do that. In terms of the second part of your question, we are attracting those tourists who previously did come through to the U.K. They are now going more so to Paris and Milan. Obviously, through our CRM database, we can see this happening and therefore stores being attractive. The branding that Jonathan's mentioned, the product line, these are big attractors to the Burberry line. People are moving at the moment more towards Paris and Milan than here, regrettably.
We'd like to change that.
The final question from Anne-Laure Bismuth. Thank you.
Hi, Anne-Laure Bismuth from HSBC. I have two questions, please. The first one is a follow-up on the question from Antoine earlier about this target of GBP 4 billion sales in the midterm. Given that you have provided this target to convert all the stores to a new concept by end full year 2026, does that mean that target of reaching GBP 4 billion sales is achievable in full year 2026? Another way to ask that question is that the GBP 4 billion target is where the consensus is in 2028. If consensus decide to move this GBP 4 billion sales target in 2026, would you consider consensus to be too optimistic? My second question is about price increases. What is your plan for the second part of the year?
Would it be possible to know the kind of magnitude you plan to increase prices, and if you are planning to increase prices in Europe, given the price gap between Europe and the U.S.,? Thank you very much.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yes. In terms of GBP 4 billion, we're anticipating this being over a three to five-years period. It's based on a full year 2022 base, and it's quoted at constant exchange rates. I mean, in terms of consensus, as you know, I think consensus will move as the business improves. I think just because we had the markdown coming out of the business, that was a drag on revenue, and therefore, I think it will take a little bit of time before consensus moves. We're not going to go for a specific date. The reason for that is not about our confidence in the business and about the future of the business and what Burberry is capable of. Absolutely not, because we're very confident.
It's really all about acknowledging the macro situation that we're dealing with. In particular, you've seen the volatility caused by the COVID disruption in China. You know, going from 1% in Q1 to 11% in Q2. It's a very difficult world, and the major determinant of that change was actually due to China swinging so much between one quarter and the other. That's caused us to say three to five-years time horizon rather than, you know, a certain date and time. We would, though, expect consensus to move over time, definitely. Price?
Yeah. In terms of prices, we, you know, we're managing them on a regular basis. We track. We have great models in place where we can track where we are regionally. As we mentioned earlier, we're kind of, you know, raising them mid-single digits where we need to be. It's really something that's organic. Seasonal business, four times a year, we really go through a complete overhaul. As I mentioned earlier, I think we've been fairly happy with the way that we've been managing our price increases to date.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
I think we've actually run out of time now.
Okay.
Okay, we'll take one more question. Sorry.
Thank you for that. I'm Charmaine Yap from Redburn. Sorry, I have two questions, please. First one, in terms of brand positioning, Jonathan, do you feel that there's still a discrepancy between the regions? Historically, U.S., is a little bit weaker, and also relating to that, the pressure on entry price points in the U.S., do you think that's a market factor, or is that a little bit on brand-specific issues? In terms of the second question is, with regards to your commitment to operating margins. Because of the volatility in macro, for example, if sales were to slow temporarily before accelerating, are you still happy to commit your level investments and, you know, suffer maybe short-term temporary margin pressure before recovering again? Thank you.
Yeah. In terms of the brand positioning, it's a very good point. I think great work has been done. You know, I think the perception of Burberry now as a stronger luxury brand, our positioning wherever you are globally is more or less exactly where it needs to be. I'm happy with that. I think one of the call-outs here, which we have mentioned, is if you look at the image of the brand in terms of the store concepts are very modern. They're in line with where we're going, where we need to be. We've done a lot more of those in the East versus the West.
By the end of this financial year, we're gonna be about 35% fully refurbished, continue accelerating on that. That will obviously, a lot of that will come from Europe and America. I think this will help the brand perception. Certainly, you know, as Julie mentioned earlier, we've seen a big upgrade in our ticket price sales in the U.S., for example. Actually the shift and mix of our business in the U.S., ready-to-wear versus accessories is quite nicely weighted towards the accessories, actually. Already people are seeing us as a leather goods business there.
You know, when you go into Asia, for example, it's a slightly different perception because people see us as this, you know, iconic ready-to-wear offer and, you know, and that's where we've probably got more work to be done in terms of really pushing and marketing, you know, the new offer that's coming through that they're very excited about through the new accessories offer. You know, I'm pretty happy. There's little kind of quirks in each region. This for me, I touched on it earlier in terms of the buys. I do see an opportunity for us to have, and we will have now, you know, much stronger consistency of what you're seeing in our stores here.
You need to make regional adjustments, for sure. Making sure that what we're promoting, what we're talking about will be consistent across all and congruent across all of the regions and markets.
Okay. Yeah. In terms of if sales were to slow and then there's an acceleration in the impact on margins, I mean, our assumption is that clearly we've experienced in this first half considerable disruption in China. Our assumption is next year that this eases and that there is a relaxation of the mask testing, et c., and the stores being closed. That is our fundamental assumption. With that assumption in mind, we can accommodate the increases in expenditure, the store refurbishment program rolling out, the extra depreciation, together with the marketing increases we've done this year already. We can accommodate that within the aspiration of a 20% margin in full year 2024. If sales go into reverse or if you're dealing with a very difficult macro situation, then I think I would refer to what we did during COVID.
I mean, during COVID-19, we had a very difficult situation on our hands. Our sales declined high single digits, but we were actually able to hold the margin. We kept the investment in the commercial front line, but we took some additional costs in terms of enabling our support areas in the business, and actually managed the margin through that very turbulent period. If the worst came to the worst, I think we would have a solution, and we would be able to manage the business as we did during COVID-19. At this point in time, given our assumptions, given the macro as it stands at the moment, we can do the investment and protect the margin.
Okay. Well, I apologize for those people I didn't get round to. I am around for the rest of the day with Lauren and Rhian. If you fire your questions across, I'm more than happy to take them. I'll leave it over to Jonathan to finish off.
Good.
Yeah.
Well, thank you very much, everybody. I hope you've enjoyed it. It's been great, and I'm sure I'll see some of you after the presentation. Julie's not leaving yet, so she's still with us. She's been a incredible partner for me as well. Thank you very much and thanks for your support.