Mulberry sales up 10% following Johnny Coca debut

Mulberry sales were up 10% to £74.5m in the six months to the end of September following a positive response to the brand's new direction under creative director Johnny Coca.

The British luxury brand however notched up a small loss before tax of £500,000 due to increased investment in product and foreign exchange costs on overseas subsidiaries.

Coca arrived at the brand from French house Céline in July last year and showed his debut collection in February and his second at London Fashion Week in September.

Since his arrival he has reimagined some of the brand's classic items, such as the Bayswater, while introducing popular new styles including the Clifton and the Maple. Crucially he returned the brand to a more accessible price point (now few bags sell for more than £1,000) after previous CEO Bruno Guillon's ill-fated attempt to push it further upmarket.

New CEO Thierry Andretta was appointed in March 2015 and has a CV that includes big names such as jewellery brand Buccellati, Lanvin, Mocschino, LVMH, Gucci Group and Céline.

Andretta said the new collections by Coca had been well received by new and existing customers alike. "We have strengthened our balance sheet with tight inventory management leading to strong cash generation, enabling us to invest in international development and new products," he added.

He also revealed that Mulberry had formed a new company, Mulberry (Asia) Ltd, along with its majority shareholder Challice. The new entity will run its businesses in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. It will debut with four stores in the region, a Chinese-language site and a wholesale and omnichannel network.

"The new business announced today in North Asia will progress our strategy of developing our retail and omni-channel model in key luxury markets," Andretta said. He added that the outlook in the UK and globally had become more uncertain but Mulberry was "in a good position to continue to build our business".