Dr Martens confirmed it was trading in line with management expectations, despite the continued “challenging trading backdrop” for its UK business.

In an update ahead of its AGM, the shoe maker said its guidance for FY26 remains unchanged and its order books globally for the upcoming Autumn/Winter season are “healthy”.

The retailer reported “positive trading” in its Americas Direct to Consumer (DTC) channel, driven by full price sales mostly in retail.

However, it cautioned its EMEA DTC business remains “more variable” and its UK business continues to “experience a challenging trading backdrop”.

Dr Martens said its APAC business “continues to show good growth”, thanks to a “particularly strong performance in South Korea driven by our well-established shoes category here”.

Looking ahead, the retailer reported its EMEA order book was up year-on-year whilst the Americas order book is “broadly in line year-on-year and importantly is based on a much wider product range than previously”.

Dr Martens said the group was focused on embedding its new consumer-first Levers for Growth strategy to stabilise the business, which it revealed in June when it reported its profits had more than halved.

“The strategy capitalises on the clear strengths of the business today and taps into the significant new markets and profit pools that are available to us,” the retailer said in a statement.

“It is centred on engaging more consumers, driving more product purchase occasions, curating market-right distribution and simplifying the operating model.”

“Further details on our early progress in these areas will be shared at our first half results in November,” it added.

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