Results round-up

Full year profits from Burberry fell 10%, at the bottom of analysts' range of estimates, and the fashion retailer warned that it expects 2017 full year adjusted profit before tax "to be towards the bottom of the range of analysts' expectations".

To try and sweeten the pill, Burberry said it would make £100m of cost savings and launch a £150m share buyback to help the business and investors cope with conditions that have remained challenging, with cost inflation pressures persisting despite the cost-cutting push.

"While we expect the challenging environment for the luxury sector to continue in the near term, we are firmly committed to making the changes needed to drive Burberry's future outperformance, underpinned by strong brand and business fundamentals," said Christopher Bailey, chief creative and chief executive officer.

For the year to 31 March 2016, Burberry generated underlying revenue of £2.5bn, which was down 1% on the previous year, while like-for-like (LFL) sales were also 1% lower, dragged down by Hong Kong and Macau.

Adjusted profit before tax fell 10% at constant currencies to £421m, but was helped by currencies at the reported level.

Adjusted earnings per share shrank 9% to 69.9p but to ease investor's pain, the full year dividend was lifted 5% to 37p.

As well as the share buyuback that starts in the new financial year, directors said that after reaching the dividend payout target, it had been decided to move to a progressive dividend policy so that the dividend per share in the current year would be "at least in line" with last year's. Analysts said this implied earnings will fall again.

Megabrewer SABMiller reported a 10% drop in revenue for the year in its preliminary results on Wednesday to $19.8bn, though the company did claim 7% organic revenue growth at constant currencies in the year to 31 March.

The FTSE 100 firm, currently the subject of an acquisition and combination with AB InBev, posted group net producer revenue of $24.1bn, an 8% drop, or a 5% organic rise at constant currencies.

SABMiller’s total beverage volumes grew 2% during the year, with lager volumes up 1% and soft drinks volumes up 6%.

Reported EBITA dropped 9% to $5.8bn and grew 8% organically and at constant currencies, with adjusted earnings per share down 6% on a reported basis and up 12% on an organic basis to 224.1 cents.

SABMiller blamed the reported declines on the depreciation of “key operating currencies” against the US dollar.

There were exceptional charges of $721m, primarily related to the impairment of the firm’s investments in Angola and South Sudan, together with costs associated with the AB InBev transaction.

The company declared a final dividend of 93.75 cents, taking the full year dividend per share to 122 cents, up 8% on the prior year.