Burberry shares gain on report of Coach merger

Burberry gained ground on Friday afternoon after the Betaville financial blog suggested US-based Coach was considering a merger with the London-listed luxury retailer.

Personal Goods

13,736.36

15:45 15/11/24

2.34%

314.51

According to Betaville, which cited two people familiar with the matter, Coach has been working with investment bank Evercore for several weeks on a potential deal.

However, Burberry shares came off their highs after Reuters cited sources familiar with the matter as saying that the two companies were not in active merger talks.

"This is completely speculative. There are no negotiations underway, Burberry is not talking to Coach," one of the sources told Reuters.

Earlier this week, Burberry said like-for-like sales improved in the second quarter hanks to a spike in fashion-conscious tourists to the UK, but while it confirmed a larger potential profits boost from currency fluctuations, wholesale revenues cast a stain on the results.

For the six months to 30 September, total revenue of £1.16bn was up 5% at reported level but down 4% on an underlying basis and moderately short of Bloomberg consensus of £1.17bn, with 11% growth in retail or 2% underlying at constant currencies.

At 1515 BST, Burberry shares were up 2.3% to 1,483p.