Resilient Shoe Zone delivers robust year's trading

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Oct 25, 2022

Shoe Zone said Tuesday it continues to show just how resilient its business is, citing its “proven track record of delivering robust results during times of economic uncertainty”.

That translates into a positive year that included a full 52-weeks of post pandemic trading in the period to 1 October.

Group revenue increased 31.2% to £156.2 million, albeit compared to the 36 weeks’ trading allowed a year ago when revenues were £119.1 million, due to Covid closures.

Store revenue amounted to £129.8 million compared to £88.5 million last time while digital revenue slipped to £26.4 million from £30.6m in FY 2021, now representing 16.9% of group revenue. It noted the online sales dip reflected “a return to a normalised level of revenue post-pandemic” and was in line with management expectations.

Product margin held steady at 61.3%.
 
Shoe Zone also consolidated its store portfolio in the latest period, now trading out of 360 retail units compared to 410 last time. The total is made up of 271 original Shoe Zone stores, 45 Big Box and 44 Hybrid stores. 

“We continue our strategy to expand the number of Big Box and Hybrid formats through relocations and refits of existing Shoe Zone stores”, it noted, adding that in the year it sold 14 freehold properties, which generated a profit on sale of £1.4 million.

Shoe Zone said adjusted pre-tax profit is expected to be “not less than £11 million” as the retailer “traded positively during the period, particularly in the second half of the year, which included our key Back to School period”. Meanwhile, net cash of £24.4 million was almost £10 million higher than a year ago.