A horn-adorned baseball cap is not to everyone’s taste. But coming up with fun ways to celebrate the Year of the Ox is paying off for Burberry. The British luxury goods purveyor, which relies on Chinese customers for 40 per cent of sales, reported a strong rebound in sales on Friday. The share price jumped 7 per cent.

The bounce did not extend to its luxury peers, already known to be beneficiaries of strong Chinese spending. Shares in eyewear company EssilorLuxottica hardly budged, even as it announced a return to a pre-pandemic level of performance this year. But Burberry has more than most to prove. Its trading statement raises hopes that its sluggish recovery catwalk might have a bit more bounce.

Burberry’s share price collapsed early in the pandemic, amid fears its relaunch would not get the attention needed. The share price underperformed the MSCI Europe textiles, apparel and luxury index by about 40 per cent in the year to July. Since then, like a Burberry scarf in the breeze, its shares teasingly left its peers behind, rising almost half as much again as the benchmark. They trade on a price-to-forward earnings ratio of 31, well above the three-year average.