Burberry reports 24 pct fall in H1 underlying profit

LONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - British luxury brand Burberry reported a 24 percent drop in underlying first-half profit, in line with its expectations, reflecting lower licensing revenue and tougher trading in stores in the United States and Hong Kong.

The group, which has released a short-film about its founder Thomas Burberry as its Christmas campaign, reported adjusted pretax profit of 146 million pounds ($182.15 million).

Burberry announced a 4 percent drop in half-year sales to 1.16 billion pounds ($1.44 billion) last month as weak demand in some overseas markets offset a surge in sales in its British home as tourists took advantage of a lower pound.

($1 = 0.8015 pounds) (Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Jason Neely)