8 June 2015

Annual Financial Report

Pursuant to Listing Rule 9.6.1, Burberry Group plc (the "Group") has submitted the following documents to the National Storage Mechanism and they will shortly be available for inspection at: www.hemscott.com/nsm.do:

1. Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2015;

2. Notice of Annual General Meeting; and

3. Form of Proxy.

The Annual Report and Notice of Annual General Meeting are also available on the Burberry Group plc website at www.burberryplc.com. The Annual Report will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies in due course.   

The Annual General Meeting ("AGM") will take place at 9.30am on Thursday, 16 July 2015 at the offices of Nomura, 1 Angel Lane, London EC4R 3AB. The total of the votes cast by shareholders for or against or withheld on each resolution to be put to the meeting will be published on www.burberryplc.com as soon as possible after the meeting.

The Group is proposing to adopt new articles of association (the "New Articles") at the AGM which will reflect developments in market practice and provide clarification and additional flexibility on certain matters. A summary of the key changes to the Group's existing articles of association is set out in the Notice of Annual General Meeting available at www.burberryplc.com/annual_general_meeting. A copy of the New Articles has been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism in accordance with DTR 6.1.2 of the FCA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules and will shortly be available at: www.hemscott.com/nsm.do. The New Articles showing all the changes to the Group's existing articles are available for inspection from the date of this announcement at the Group's registered office (Horseferry House, Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2AW) and the offices of Slaughter and May (One Bunhill Row, London EC1Y 8YY) until the AGM and also at the AGM from 9.00am until its conclusion.

In compliance with The Disclosure and Transparency Rules (DTR) 6.3.5, the information in the Appendix below is extracted from Burberry Group plc's Annual Report and Accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2015 (the "2014/15 Annual Report and Accounts") and should be read in conjunction with Burberry Group plc's Preliminary Announcement issued on 20 May 2015, both of which can be viewed at www.burberryplc.com. Together these constitute the material required by DTR 6.3.5 to be communicated to the media in unedited full text through a Regulatory Information Service.  This material is not a substitute for reading the 2014/15 Annual Report and Accounts in full and page numbers and cross-references in the extracted information below refer to page numbers and cross-references in the 2014/15 Annual Report and Accounts.

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Burberry

APPENDIX: ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REQUIRED BY DTR 6.3.5

AUDIT REPORTS

The Preliminary Announcement includes a condensed set of financial statements. Audited financial statements for the financial year ended 31 March 2015 are contained in the 2014/15 Annual Report and Accounts. The Independent Auditor's Report on the Group financial statements is set out in full on pages 111 to 115 of the 2014/15 Annual Report and Accounts and the Independent Auditor's Report on the parent company financial statements is set out in full on pages 163 to 164 of the 2014/15 Annual Report and Accounts.  Both audit reports are unqualified and do not contain any statements under section 498(2) or section 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006.

STATEMENT OF DIRECTORS' RESPONSIBILITIES

The following information is extracted from page 110 of the 2014/15 Annual Report and Accounts.

The directors consider that the Annual Report, taken as a whole, is fair, balanced and understandable and provides the information necessary for shareholders to assess the Group's performance, business model and strategy.

Each of the directors, whose names and functions are listed on pages 62 to 63 confirm that, to the best of their knowledge:

·      the Group financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit of the Group; and

·      the Strategic Report includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Group, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that it faces.

PRINCIPAL RISKS

The following information is extracted from pages 56 to 59 of the 2014/15 Annual Report and Accounts.

Effective management of risk is essential to the execution of the Group's strategies, the achievement of sustainable shareholder value, the protection of the brand and ensuring good governance.

The Board has overall responsibility for determining the nature and extent of the significant risks it is willing to take in achieving its strategic objectives (its risk appetite), and for ensuring that risks are managed effectively. The Board has delegated to the Audit Committee the responsibility for reviewing the effectiveness of the Group's systems of internal control and risk management methodology.

As part of this review, the Audit Committee considers the principal risks facing the Group and the nature and extent of these risks. The Vice President - Group Risk Officer facilitates a risk assessment process in each key business area and global support function to review the significant risks facing Group operations and to record the relevant controls and actions in place to mitigate these. The detailed assessments are then consolidated to provide input into the overall Group risk assessment. See the Corporate Governance Report for further details of the Group's risk management processes and internal controls.

The Board and the executive management team use a combination of different and complementary skills to assess the risks facing the business. In determining its risk appetite the Board considers a variety of information when reviewing the Group operations and in approving key matters reserved for its decision. This information includes:

·      updates provided by senior management on key strategic and operational matters;

·      discussion and approval by the Board of the Group's three-year Strategic plan and budget;

·      information provided for the purposes of deciding whether to approve those significant matters which have been reserved for the Board; and

·      Group risk assessments facilitated by the Group's Risk Function and the reports of the external auditors.

The risks set out in the table on the following pages represent the principal risks and uncertainties which may adversely impact the performance of the Group and the execution of its core strategies. The Group's core strategies are set out on pages 27 to 41. Other factors could also adversely affect Group performance and so the risks set out should not be considered to be a complete set of all potential risks and uncertainties.

The key steps the Group takes to address these principal risks are described in the table under 'Mitigation'. It is not possible for the Group to implement controls to respond to all the risks it may face, and the steps the Group has taken to address certain risks (including those listed) may not manage these risks effectively.

The principal risks are not listed in order of significance and each of the risks should be considered independently. If more than one of the events contemplated by the risks set out occur, it is possible that the combined overall impact of such events may be compounded.

The Group continues to identify as a principal risk that Group revenues are increasingly dependent on consumers from the Asia region with a significant proportion of the Group's sales to Asian consumers globally. Since the last Annual Report, the Asian trading environment is becoming more uncertain. In particular, there were disruptions in Hong Kong, a high margin market, resulting in a deceleration in comparable retail sales in Hong Kong in the second half of the financial year.