Burberry's Japan sales fell 2% last quarter — the same quarter Richemont's Japan rose 36%

Burberry's comparable sales returned to growth in its first quarter, but Japan was the one country the company named individually that moved the other way, according to Burberry's trading update for the 13 weeks to 27 June 2026.

Retail revenue reached £455m, up 5% at reported exchange rates and 4% at constant currency, from £433m a year earlier, Burberry said. Group comparable retail sales rose 5%, against a 1% decline in the same quarter last year, even as the contribution from store space stayed negative, down 1%, unchanged from a year ago.

By region, comparable sales rose 12% in the Americas, which Burberry credited to local demand and broad-based customer acquisition, and 9% in Greater China, which it linked to local demand and outsized growth among Gen Z customers. Asia Pacific overall grew 3%. EMEIA — Burberry's Europe, Middle East, India and Africa region — was the exception at group level, falling 3%, which the company attributed to the ongoing impact of the Middle East conflict and lower tourist spending; excluding the Middle East, EMEIA's decline narrows to 1%.

Within Asia Pacific, Burberry broke out two individual markets. South Korea grew 11%, which the company said was supported by both local demand and tourist spending. Japan moved the other way, declining 2%, a fall Burberry attributed to the continued decline in inbound tourists from China. Japan was the only one of the two named markets to shrink. EMEIA fell as well, at the regional level, but Burberry did not break that macro-region down market by market the way it did with Asia Pacific — so Japan is the only individual country the company singled out for a decline this quarter.

That split is the story for Japan. South Korea's growth came from both legs, domestic shoppers and tourist spend, and Greater China's 9% came largely from local demand led by younger shoppers. Japan lost the one leg that has propped up its luxury spending since the yen turned cheap: the mainland Chinese visitor. It lines up with what floortok reported on 15 July, citing Japan National Tourism Organization data — inbound arrivals fell 6.8% in June, a second consecutive monthly decline.

But it does not line up with Richemont, which reported the very same quarter two days earlier and called Japan its strongest market of all, up 36%, as floortok reported on 15 July. The two figures are not the same measure — Burberry's is comparable retail sales, stripped of new space, while Richemont's is sales by market at constant exchange rates, which new stores and wholesale can flatter. That accounts for some of the distance between them. It does not obviously account for 38 points. The likelier reading is that "Japan luxury" is not one market moving together: Richemont sells jewellery, in the middle of a jewellery boom, while Burberry is a turnaround brand rebuilding its outerwear authority. One brand's quarterly comp is a data point, not a verdict on the market — and this quarter, two maisons reading the same country produced opposite answers.

Elsewhere in the quarter

Chief executive Joshua Schulman pointed to a broader turnaround in the product range. "For the first time in three years, we saw growth across our Womenswear, Menswear, Accessories and Childrenswear divisions, anchored by the outperformance of Outerwear," he said. Burberry reported a 19% rise in new Rainwear customers, which it linked to its 'Portraits of an Icon' campaign, alongside double-digit growth in Outerwear, a return to growth for women's handbags, double-digit growth in new Gen Z customers, and e-commerce sales up in the mid-teens. The company also said it had opened 97 polo galleries by Father's Day and raised its wholesale guidance for the first half of the financial year.

Burberry operated 413 directly run stores at 27 June 2026 — 224 mainline retail stores, 135 concessions and 54 outlets — plus 27 franchise stores, excluding pop-ups. For the full financial year, the company is now forecasting an average exchange rate of ¥214 to the pound, against an actual average of ¥203 in the prior year — a weaker yen that would flatter yen-translated results even where underlying local sales are flat or falling.

Burberry said it continues to expect revenue growth and margin expansion for the full year, in line with its previous guidance, while flagging that it remains mindful of the uncertain geopolitical and macro-economic environment.