Luxury brands look to Burberry for signs of investor confidence
All eyes in the fashion world will be on the London Stock Exchange this Friday for the flotation of the UK’s world famous Burberry brand.
The price at which the shares open is widely seen as a barometer of investor confidence in the luxury goods sector, which has been hit hard in recent months by sluggish demand as well as wider events such as the Worldcom scandal. It will also be the first major fashion flotation following last month’s high profile decision by the Italian fashion house, Prada, to postpone its own Independent Public Offering.
Burberry’s parent group, GUS, has indicated a price range of between £2.30 ($3.50) to £2.90 ($4.50) per share, valuing the company at between £1.15 billion and £1.45 billion. This compares to a value of between £1.15 billion and £1.8 billion when the plans for the flotation were first announced 18 months ago.
