LONDON (Bloomberg) — Burberry Group Plc, Britain's largest publicly traded luxury company, rose the most ever in London trading after saying sales growth unexpectedly picked up and that it plans to axe more than 500 jobs.

The shares jumped as much as 16 percent. Third-quarter sales rose 30 percent, above the 15 percent pace estimated by analysts and the previous quarter's 17 percent.

Burberry, which is emphasising its UK heritage with ads for "Brit" perfume featuring English model Agyness Deyn, will cut as many as 540 jobs in its home country and Spain, saving as much as £35 million ($45 million). Chief financial officer Stacey Cartwright said capital spending will halve to about £45 million in fiscal 2010, and fewer stores will be opened.

The sales surprise "implies clear market share gains in Europe, and likely the US too", and was "driven by Europe and Asia-Pacific", Redburn Partners analyst Lisa Rachal said in an e-mailed note to clients. She called Burberry an "outlier relative to the rest of the luxury sector".

The figures contrast with downbeat Christmas updates from rivals such as Cie. Financiere Richemont SA and Coach Inc.

Burberry, which first sold shares to the public in 2002, has gained about four percent so far this year. It sank 61 percent in 2008, dragged down by the worsening outlook for luxury as house prices and financial markets tumbled in the US and Britain. Richemont, the owner of the Chloe and Cartier brands, said it's facing its most difficult market in 20 years yesterday, and its shares are down 16 percent in 2009.

Cartwright said on a conference call that Burberry will scale back openings to "high single digits" after an expected second-half increase in retail space of about 13 percent.

The company repeated that it expects so-called adjusted pretax profit for the current financial year to be in line with its November forecasts, for which Cartwright cited a range of between £160 million and £188 million.

Cartwright also said Burberry is going to rely less on emerging markets and open more stores in wealthy nations where the brand has "proven" appeal, such as its home town of London and big US cities. The company is refurbishing its store in the British capital's wealthy Knightsbridge district, opening a children's wear store and offering denim for the first time.

The retailer had sustained growth while economies in developed markets slowed by expanding in cities such as Bangalore, India, where it opened this month.

The job cuts are part of a consolidation of UK manufacturing at two plants in Castleford, Yorkshire and the closures of a facility in Rotherham and the Thomas Burberry line in Spain, Cartwright said. Those cuts "will provide comfort", Morgan Stanley analysts said in an e-mailed note.