Burberry today signalled that the luxury goods market has not been affected by the gloom hitting the high street by sticking to full-year forecasts and revealing a sharp rise in sales of its trademark clothing.

In a trading update the group, famed for its black, beige and red check, said that total revenue rose 19 per cent over the six months to September 30 to £449 million.

Like-for-like sales in Burberry’s own stores around the world was 11 per cent, with the strongest growth in the US and Italy. Wholesale revenue was up 16 per cent.

A string of high-street retailers from Next to John Lewis have recently warned of tough trading conditions and said that higher interest rates could hit consumers in the run-up to Christmas.

Angela Ahrendts, Burberry’s chief executive, said she was “delighted” with the group’s performance, which she put down to “compelling” marketing and the success of new ranges of luxury handbags and women’s outerwear.

She added: “This performance is consistent with our profit expectations for the full-year as we continue to increase our investment in the infrastructure of the business to support this strong growth.”

Shares in the group, which have rallied nearly 20 per cent since the middle of September, dipped 4.5p to 661.5p in early morning trading.

Burberry admitted that the costs of Project Atlas - a three-year plan to overhaul the supply chain and IT systems - were likely to be slightly higher than expected this year.

The weaker yen may also knock £3 million off profits in Burberry’s licensing division over the second half.

Andrew Wade, retail analyst at Seymour Pierce, said: “In all, this was a solid, although not flawless, trading update.”

HSBC analyst Antoine Belge added: "Burberry offers superior top line growth prospects in the short term, however we feel consensus is unlikely to move upwards as margin implications of today’s release are neutral if not negative."

Burberry said it expects average selling space in its retail division to increase by 12 per cent over the second half of its financial year.

In the first half, Burberry opened 11 new stores and 13 concessions across the US, Italy and Asia.

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