Burberry reportedly cutting "hundreds" of jobs

(Sharecast News) - British high-end fashion group Burberry is expected to announce "hundreds" of job cuts in the UK as part of a cost-cutting programme following a massive drop in its share price since the start of the year. The company, which employs more than 9,000 people worldwide, is currently working on redundancy programmes, having already started the 45-day consultation period, according to The Telegraph.

Employees were reportedly informed about the impending cuts in late-June, with 400 jobs thought to be at risk. The majority of redundancies are expected to affect its UK workforce, the paper said.

Burberry's stock has fallen 37% since the start of the year, when it announced a profit warning which it blamed on the wider luxury-market slowdown.

In May at the time of its results for the year ended 30 March - in which it reported a 34% drop in adjusted operating profits to £418m - the company said it expected first-half trading to "remain challenging".

The share-price decline has raised speculation in recent months that Burberry could be a takeover target. The stock is now 57% lower than it was last year and currently trades at levels not seen since mid-2010.

Shares were down a further 1% at 880.64p in early deals on Monday.