LONDON, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- British luxury brand Burberry PLC warned on Tuesday that its profits this year will be at the lower end of market expectations.

The group, which has 196 retail stores, 207 concessions, 48 outlet shops and 58 franchise stores worldwide, warned that as a result of the performance its full year results would come in lower than hoped for at around 407 million pounds (651.2 million U.S. dollars).

In reaction, the shares of Burberry plunged more than 18 percent on the London FTSE 100 stock market. The news has also brought down shares in luxury goods industry, signaling that the industry also cannot escape from the gloomy global economy.

The company said retail sales in the ten weeks previous to September 8 were 6 percent higher than a year ago, but all of the growth was due to new stores opening.

Comparing stores open for at least a year, retail sales were unchanged, or rather "a deceleration" in recent weeks, it said.

"As we stated in July, the external environment is becoming more challenging," said Burberry's Chief Executive Angela Ahrendts.

"Given this background, we are tightly managing discretionary costs and taking appropriate actions to protect short term profitability," she said.

Burberry, which was founded in 1856 and is famous for its red, black and camel check, spent much of the year bucking the gloomy trend in the wider retail sector due to its exposure to robust emerging markets, especially China. Enditem

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