Burberry Group Plc (BRBY) Revenue in Quarterly June 2011 Rise 30% on Asia

Burberry Group Plc (BRBY) Revenue in Quarterly June 2011 Rise 30% on Asia : Burberry Group Plc (BRBY), the U.K.’s largest luxury-goods maker, reported first-quarter sales that beat analysts’ estimates as Asian countries led growth.

Revenue in the three months ended June 30 rose 30 percent to 367 million pounds ($585 million,) the London-based company said today in a statement. The average estimate of 11 analysts compiled by the company was for revenue of 344 million pounds.

Burberry said in May that it expects more modest growth in profit margins this year as it accelerates store openings and increases spending on technology. The maker of 1,695-euro ($2,400) wool capes is investing in retail, which is more profitable than wholesale, to tap growth in mainland China, where sales of luxury goods are set to rise 25 percent to 11.5 billion euros in 2011, according to Bain & Co. estimates.

“While mindful of global macro challenges and increasingly tough comparatives in the balance of the year, we remain confident in our strategies and will continue to invest to drive profitable growth,” Chief Executive Officer Angela Ahrendts said in the statement.

“The stock is fully valued, as full-year 2012 could be a year of transition with high-cost inflation and limited earnings momentum,” Thomas Chauvet, an analyst at Citigroup Inc. in London, wrote in a July 4 note. He has a “hold” recommendation on the shares.

Mining titan Xstrata was in demand after taking full control of the Pallas Green zinc project in Ireland, buying out the 23.6% interest held by its joint venture partner, Minco, for $19.4m.

Sector peers Fresnillo, Antofagasta Randgold, Lonmin, ENRC, Kazakhmys, BHP Billiton and Anglo American were also firmer, tracking metals prices higher.

Marks & Spencer was the worst performer despite seeing sales (excluding VAT) rise by 3.2% in the 13 weeks to 2 July, compared with the year before. Like-for-like (lfl) sales in the UK were flat on the general merchandise sales side, in line with the prediction made by broker Matrix Group, while food sales grew 3.3% on a lfl basis yoy, ahead of Matrix's forecast of 3.0% growth.

Interdealer broker ICAP, the largest in the world, saw revenue fall by 4% in the first quarter, hampered by a slow start and tough comparators last year, but expects things to pick up for the rest of the year. Shares fell lower.

Chocolate maker and retailer Thorntons fell into the red after sales for the 8 weeks ended 25 June down £1.9m to £20.6m.

BC

FTSE 100 - Risers
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,487.00p +3.48%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,470.00p +2.08%
Xstrata (XTA) 1,372.00p +1.67%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,419.00p +1.36%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,285.00p +1.34%
Lonmin (LMI) 1,372.00p +1.25%
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 776.50p +1.17%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,328.00p +1.14%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,429.50p +1.14%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,024.00p +1.07%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 361.80p -3.00%
ICAP (IAP) 473.60p -1.48%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,450.00p -1.43%
Next (NXT) 2,376.00p -1.41%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 589.00p -1.26%
Unilever (ULVR) 1,992.00p -0.90%
Sage Group (SGE) 284.90p -0.77%
Kingfisher (KGF) 256.50p -0.70%
Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,737.00p -0.69%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 583.00p -0.68%

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