Dive Brief:

• Burberry is trimming 15% to 20% of its product lines and shifting its focus to its newest items, especially those selling well after its September runway show, Reuters reports.

• The upscale British fashion house on Wednesday reported pretax profit for the first half of 2016 slipped to £72 million ($90 million), compared with £119.5 million a year ago. Operating expenses for the period rose 11% to £692.6 million.

• Burberry's stock suffered along with many others Wednesday morning as news of Donald Trump winning the U.S. presidential election sent the dollar plummeting amid fears of global economic instability. 

Dive Insight:

Burberry is among retailers who seemed in position to benefit from the fallout of this summer’s Brexit vote calling for the U.K. to leave the European Union, which helped depress the pound. But that outlook is now complicated by Trump’s election on the other side of the Atlantic, which injected gloom into the markets and sent the U.S. dollar down sharply. Many analysts don’t see the buying opportunity that some downturns present, but rather a longer term cause for concern. 

Last month Burberry CFO Carol Fairweather said the company is “delighted” with early results from its September runway show, where the collection was immediately available for purchase in store and online for the first time. In a press release issued Wednesday, the retailer called customer response to the approach "exceptional," and Fairweather similarly told reporters that Burberry's decision to spotlight its best-selling items will spell success at the holidays. 

Burberry's underlying revenue nevertheless fell 4% in the first half, while same-store sales were flat. Same-store sales in the Americas remained a weak spot in the period, in part a consequence of its concerted pullback from department stores and wholesale operations “reflecting actions to build and reinforce luxury brand positioning.” E-commerce sales rose in all regions, Burberry said.

Despite the headwinds, chief creative officer and CEO Christopher Bailey said in a statement that the company’s goals are “on track,” adding "In May we outlined plans to evolve how we work as a business and to drive Burberry’s future growth in a rapidly-changing luxury environment. Since then, we have made good early progress towards realizing the significant opportunities ahead of us.”

This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the 2016 holiday shopping season. You can browse our holiday page for more stories.