Mulberry delivered a trading update on Wednesday covering the year to the end of March and in the circumstances, it wasn’t a disastrous one.

Yes, sales fell. But given the challenges luxury has been facing — especially luxury brands outside of the giant groups — Mulberry could be said to have done well to keep its sales decline at just 4%.

And at constant exchange rates (CER), the decline was a smaller 2.7% while the company said that gross margins were maintained around the level reported for the first half of the year.

But as previously reported, losses for the full year will be impacted by the additional operational costs of new stores in Sweden and Australia and “ongoing important investments, including technology, supporting future growth of the group”.

More positive was the fact that retail sales were in line with the prior year, driven by growth in Europe (which included the first full period of ownership of its Swedish stores) and the US, “due to increased brand awareness and our direct to customer strategy”.

Retail sales in total rose 0.3% (or 1.9% CER) with international retail sales up 7.2% (or 11% CER) and the UK down 3.2%.

That decline in the UK partly offset the positive figures, while falling sales in Asia Pacific (excluding Australia) accounted for the rest of the decline. This region “continued to be challenging due to the macro-economic climate in China and reduced footfall across the region”.

The decline in franchise and wholesale sales was broadly in line with the first half of FY24, due to wholesale arrangements that converted to retail.

CEO Thierry Andretta stressed that the company achieved positive revenue growth in the first half, but “has not been immune to the broader downturn in luxury spending experienced in recent months, particularly in the UK and Asia”.

Looking ahead, he doesn’t see much relief coming in the short term. “The trading environment in the UK and China remains challenging,” he said. “We are therefore managing the business prudently, focusing on executing our strategy and vision to become a global sustainable luxury brand.”