Burberry share price drops as Christopher Bailey announces departure
Shares in Burberry (LON:BRBY) have fallen into the red this morning, as the company announced that Christopher Bailey will step down from his role as president and chief creative officer next year. The news comes after Marco Gobbetti recently took over as chief executive of the luxury goods retailer.
As of 10:20 BST, Burberry’s share price stood at 1,914.00p, 0.42 percent down, having plunged more than one percent immediately following the announcement. The stock is underperforming the broader London market, with the FTSE 100 index having climbed into positive territory and currently standing 0.28 percent higher at 7,508.84 points. The group’s shares have lost more than 30 percent of their value over the past year, and are down by some 28 percent in the year-to-date.
Christopher Bailey to leave Burberry
Burberry announced in a statement today that Christopher Bailey will leave the company at the end of next year “to pursue new creative projects”. He will stay on as and president and chief creative officer until March 31, when he will step down from the board, but will continue to “provide his full support” to chief executive Marco Gobbetti and the team on the transition until December 31.
Bailey joined Burberry back in 2001 to head up design, but took over as CEO and chief creative officer in May 2014, following the departure of Angela Ahrendts. He stepped down from the chief executive role earlier this year, handing over the top job to Gobbetti.
‘Driving force’
Burberry said in the statement that Bailey had been ‘a driving force’ behind the company’s transformation, with the company having “grown from a small licensed outerwear business to become one of the world’s largest and most admired global luxury brands”.
The FTSE 100 retailer noted that the group’s new chief executive understood Bailey’s decision and will now begin the process of finding a successor.
As of 10:52 GMT, Tuesday, 31 October, Burberry Group plc share price is 1,901.00p.
