British luxury brand Burberry’s chief executive Marco Gobbetti has said the company’s upscaling strategy is taking shape after reporting an uptick in profits for the year ended 31 March.

Gobbetti said the company’s turnaround plan, which is to focus on rebuilding and stepping up a move into leather goods and pushing the brand further upmarket, is showing “promising early signs”.

“In a year of transition, we are pleased with our performance as we began to execute our strategy,” Gobbetti said. “While the task of transforming Burberry is still before us, the first steps we implemented to re-energise our brand are showing promising early signs. With Riccardo Tisci now on board and a strong leadership team in place, we are excited about the year ahead and remain fully focused on our strategy to deliver long-term sustainable value.”

The company posted a five per cent increase in operating profit for the year ending March 31, 2018 to £467 million ($629 million). Annual revenues, however, fell one per cent.

The brand posted its direct-to-consumer business continues to deliver good growth with particular strength in Asia. Mobile transactions represented 40 per cent of its direct-to-consumer revenue.

The British megabrand also announced it will buy back another £150 million of shares.

Last week, Burberry announced the acquisition of its long-term partner, Italian leather goods manufacturer CF&P.

Access exclusive analysis, locked news and reports with Inside Retail Weekly. Subscribe today and get our premium print publication delivered to your door every week.