LONDON — Mulberry Group swung to profit in the fiscal year ended March 31, notching a gain of 2.7 million pounds, or $4.1 million, versus a loss of 1.4 million pounds, or $2.3 million, in the previous year.
The company said revenue in the 12-month period was 155.9 million pounds, or $235.4 million, 5 percent higher than the previous year, with retail sales climbing 8 percent 118.7 million pounds, or $179.2 million.
Dollar figures have been converted at average exchange rates from the periods to which they refer.
The gains in 2015-16 have been hard-won for Mulberry, which had previously struggled with falling sales and profits as it attempted to move upmarket too quickly, hiking its prices which resulted in the erosion of its core U.K. customer base.
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It has since brought average prices down and tapped a new chief executive officer and creative director.
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It has also tried to reduce the time between runway shows and deliveries, with the fall collection landing on the shop floor just weeks after the show in February. The company said Thursday that its fall retail and wholesale rollout would be completed by August.
Chief executive officer Thierry Andretta said the first collection by the new creative director Johnny Coca had been well-received both in the U.K. and internationally. He added that Mulberry’s U.K. manufacturing base, which produces about 50 percent of its bags, “has remained a core strength and point of distinction.”
He added the brand has also invested in product design and development as well as omnichannel. “Looking forward, we will invest further in developing exciting new product, whilst continuing to engage with our core U.K. and growing international customer base.”
The current year is off on a strong foot, with retail sales in the first 11 weeks to June 11 up 9 percent overall, and 4 percent like-for-like.
Barclays wrote in a report following the results announcement on Thursday that the latest figures were “notably robust in a very tough luxury market,” and “impressive” considering the fact that the main release of Coca’s first collection will only land in stores by the end of the month.
“The group is now focused on store density over store expansion,” Barclays said.