Mulberry Is World’s Top-Performing Fashion Retailer
Photo courtesy of Mulberry
View from above: Mulberry profits have quadrupled and its stock value has soared.
Forty really is the new fabulous—at least for Mulberry.
The British label, which is celebrating four decades in the business, has been named the world's best-performing fashion retail stock over the past year, Bloomberg reports.
Analysts say the handbag brand—which counts the Duchess of Cambridge as a fan—is going from strength to strength thanks to quadrupled profits and a 527 percent increase in stock value, the highest among apparel retailers.
Mulberry Group PLC also ranks as the second-best performer among all retailers, coming just behind PT Mitra Adiperkasa, which owns Starbucks and saw a 637 percent increase.
Wow. Somebody owes Alexa Chung—the inspiration for the cult-status Alexa satchels—a really nice thank you note.
With stocks gaining 24-fold over the past two years, the label emerges as the top gainer in the FTSE AIM All-Share Index of 805 British stocks, while overseas revenue doubled to £40.5 million (around $65.1 million U.S.) for the year ending March 31.
And though some suggest that the company's stock is approaching "full valuation" and has yet to conquer the Asian market, CEO Godfrey Davis sees additional opportunities for the label, including extending into new categories (such as eyewear or fragrance), once it builds more of a global presence.
He also reveals that the company is adding 50 staff to its factory in Chilcompton, England, in an effort to preserve its British roots, allowing for 30 percent of its handbags to be made in England.
But with more store openings slated for destinations like Korea, China, Thailand, and Germany, the Mulberry definitely has its eyes on expanding its overseas reach, which could help take it to the next level.
"It’s still a bigger brand than the business,” Finncap Ltd. analyst David Stoddart tells Bloomberg. “Some people are looking at it as the next Prada or Ferragamo.”
Meanwhile, Justin Bieber's fragrance is seeing record-breaking sales.
