Dr Martens share price plummets 26 per cent after another slump in sales
Another slump in sales has turned all eyes to Dr Martens today as the London-based bootmaker reported a 5 per cent dip in revenue, despite investors hoping for signs of turnaround.
Dr Martens saw a revenue decline to £395.8m in the six months to September 30 as it continued to battle weakness in its US wholesale market.
Following the results this morning, the company’s share price plummeted by 26 per cent, leading losses on London’s FTSE 250 index.
Kenny Wilson, chief executive, said: “In the USA, where there is an increasingly difficult consumer environment, our results have been more challenged, led by weakness in wholesale.
“We have strengthened the Americas leadership team and they are taking action, including refocusing marketing and improving our ecommerce trading capabilities.”
It’s been a tough year for the brand as it has been battling bottleneck issues in its Los Angeles warehouse, which impacted its American wholesale channel from December.
The supply chain issues saw the cult bootmaker post an underwhelming update in April, with fourth quarter revenues up just six per cent.
Despite overall revenue decline in today’s results, “continued strong” direct-to-consumer (DTC) performance led to an increase in seven per cent DTC revenue mix.
Dr Marten’s leadership will be added to in the new year, as Wilson is joined by Giles Wilson as chief financial officer and Ije Nwokorie as chief brand officer.
But Wilson said although actions are being taken to tackle US headwinds, improvement will take longer than expected.
“Notwithstanding the clear challenges we face in the USA market we remain very confident in our iconic brand and the significant growth opportunity ahead of us,” Wilson added.