Fill your boots: Dr Martens weathers pandemic storm with six-million shoes sales and £61.3m profits
Dr Martens has stepped up to the plate amid pandemic uncertainty with strong half-year results, including profits before tax up 46 per cent to £61.3m.
Revenues have also risen by 16 per cent between April and September to £369.9m.
Overall, the company has sold 6.3m pairs of boots, shoes and sandals sold in the half-year- up 13 per cent – or 700,000 pairs – year-on-year.
In particular, retail is resurgent, with 92 per cent growth after multiple lockdowns plaguing performance for shoe sellers across the previous financial windows.
It is even up two per cent on a two-year basis, while e-commerce revenue has grown by double-digits – increasing by 10 per cent.
The rise in footfall has benefitted the shoe specialists, particularly in the Americas where it has reported 57 per cent growth – significantly boosting its half-year performance.
Regional performance is otherwise as expected: European performance is up 12 per cent and four per cent in Asia-Pacific, with social distancing measures and Covid-19 restrictions being a greater factor on the economy.
Technically, the half-year results are record-breaking as the company floated at the start of the year – making this its first results report to the London Stock Exchange.
Nevertheless, results remain impressive, with the company expecting a maiden half-year dividend of 1.22p per share to be paid in February – a 25 per cent earnings pay-out ratio
Dr Martens will open a further 10 stores in the second-half of the year, creating about 150 jobs
This follows 13 new stores opening in the first half of the year including a first store in Spain – in Barcelona – taking the total to 147 outlets worldwide.
Chief executive Kenny Wilson said: “Our strong first half performance combined with the continued momentum in DTC trading into the second half gives us confidence in achieving market expectations for the full year. I remain hugely excited about the growth potential of the Dr. Martens brand.”