Doubt over leaving date for outgoing boss at Burberry

Burberry has yet to confirm a leaving date for chief executive Angela Ahrendts, who resigned in October to join Apple but would be due to collect an £8m share bonus from the British fashion retailer in June.

Ahrendts is free to leave Burberry this month, having worked her six-month notice period, but the American promised to stay on until the middle of this year to smooth a handover to her successor Christopher Bailey, currently chief creative officer. Remaining until 6 June would also allow her to collect two multimillion pound share bonuses relating to performance over the last few years.

However, it is thought Ahrendts wants to leave next month to take up her new post and some have suggested the most likely reason no leaving date has been confirmed is that she is wrangling with Burberry and Apple over compensation for the payout in June.

"It's a big sum of money. In some ways it would be good to see the business moving on after six months of handover time. You want to see clarity," said Rahul Sharma, an analyst at Neev Capital.

But he said investors were also likely to feel reassured by Ahrendt's presence ahead of some big moves for Burberry and continuing concerns about Bailey's ability to combine his creative role with that of a chief executive.

"That is a big concern in the back of investors' minds and Ahrendt's presence delays that point of judgment," he said.

Ahrendts' exit may also be delayed as she helps put the final flourishes to Burberry's plan to take back its Japanese licence in-house when it comes up for renewal next year. The move, expected to be confirmed at Burberry's full-year results announcement next month, would be a major change for one of the company's most important markets which currently sells a rather different range of products from those in Europe and even China.

Burberry on Wednesday said it had seen no let-up in Chinese demand for its handbags, perfumes and raincoats featuring its distinctive check, with double-digit growth across Asia boosting its sales figures.

The company reported 19% growth in sales to £1.3bn for the six months to the end of March, fuelled by 19% growth across the Asia region. Burberry recently opened a flagship store in Shanghai, its largest store in Asia, modelled on one of its London shops.

Asia now accounts for 40% of Burberry revenues, but the company also reported 21% revenue growth in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa. In the Americas, where it has a smaller presence, revenues were up 27% to £320m, led by improved sales of its new beauty ranges. Underlying sales rose 12% as more shoppers were persuaded to spend via customer services including the ability to pick up online orders in stores, helping drive up digital sales by more than 27%.

But during the period the company closed almost as many stores as it opened and admitted that the number of visitors to its stores was in decline.

It was upbeat about growth prospects for its beauty division, with sales worth £97m in the last six months, a period when it opened its first dedicated makeup and perfume shop in Covent Garden, London. Beauty sales are expected to rise by 25% in the current financial year as more standalone beauty stores are opened and a new fragrance launches this autumn.

The strong numbers will further raise expectations on Bailey. Ahrendts said: "With the management transition well under way, Burberry begins a new year with beauty firmly established as the fifth product division and investment in flagship markets, such as Shanghai, further increasing the brand's appeal to the core luxury customer at home and when travelling."

However, the company also warned that currency fluctuations could hit 2015 profits, with exchange rates a "material headwind in what remains an uncertain macro environment". This concern did not prevent the share price rising 3% to £14.67.