Footwear retailer Shoe Zone has lowered its full-year profit guidance. Revenues may have edged up but profits remained flat during the first half.
Shoe Zone’s adjusted profit before tax remained flat for the 26 weeks to March 30, 2024, reaching £2.5m.
The value footwear retailer posted revenue of £76.5m, up 1.5% year on year, while digital revenue jumped 19.6% to reach £17.1m for the period.
Despite this, Shoe Zone reported a 2.8% decline in store revenue from £61.1m to £59.4m. It has now lowered its full-year profit before tax forecast from £15.2m to £13.8m.
Shoe Zone said it finished the financial trading period with 309 stores open, 162 of which are in its new format. As it continues to rightsize its store portfolio, Shoe Zone opened 15 stores, completed 15 refits and closed 29 stores during the period.
The retailer attributed its lowered guidance to costs associated with the increased national living wage, shipping times and container prices as a result of disruption in the Middle East, as well as the volume of store closures.
Store focus
Shoe Zone chair Charles Smith said: “Shoe Zone delivered a robust performance in the period against a continuing backdrop of consumer uncertainty and macroeconomic volatility. The performance further demonstrates the resilience of our business and the success of our ongoing strategy.
“We are actively working to relocate and refit further stores in the second half of the year, together with a number of stores currently in the pipeline, opening before Christmas.
“Our average lease length is 2.3 years, which is increasing as we open new stores with five-year leases, but still gives us the opportunity and flexibility to respond to changes in any retail location at short notice.
“Property supply continues to outstrip demand and we continue to take advantage of this and significantly improve our property portfolio over the medium term.”
No comments yet