Shoe Zone has posted a “good first half” in what has been a successful turnaround following a dismal set of results last year.
For the six months to March 31, the footwear retailer saw revenues edge up 1.1 per cent to £73.7 million, but saw pre-tax profits jump 233 per cent from £300,000 last year to £1 million.
This follows reports of an 84 per cent drop in profits for the six months to April 1 last year, which it blamed on the “devaluation of sterling against the dollar”.
However, chief executive Nick Davis has seemingly implemented a successful turnaround strategy since then, seeing multichannel sales rise 21 per cent.
Shoe Zone has also enjoyed a reduction in rent since last year, in what it describes as a “a favourable retail rental environment”.
This is in stark contrast to the majority of the high street, which is scrambling to reduce its rental obligations.
“This has been a good first half for the group, trading in line with management’s expectations and achieving profitable revenue growth,” Davis said.
“Our on-going strategic focus on the property portfolio has continued to benefit the group, with careful management of leases and measured opening of core and Big Box stores, taking advantage of the favourable retail rental environment.
“This good performance also reflects our close management of costs and ability to maintain appealing key price-points and multi-buy offers for our customers.
“We are delighted that multi-channel revenue has continued to grow profitably, especially via mobile, which remains an ongoing area of development for the business.
“Trading momentum has continued into the second half, in line with expectations for the full year. With our growth strategy in place, we believe we are favourably insulated against many of the structural sector issues and the board remains confident of the outlook for Shoe Zone.”
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