Shoe Zone plc (“Shoe Zone”, the “Company” or the “Group”) the leading UK value footwear retailer, is pleased to announce its Interim Results for the six months to 31 March 2018.
Financial Highlights
- Revenue growth of 1.1% to £73.7m (2017 H1: £72.9m)
- Strong product margins at 60.6% (2017 H1: 62.8%)
- Statutory Profit before tax of £1.0m (2017 H1: £0.3m)
- Cash increased to £5.9m (2017 H1: 4.6m)
- Statutory earnings per share of 1.70p (2017 H1: 0.50p)
- Interim dividend raised to 3.5p per share (2017 H1: 3.4p per share)
Operational Highlights
- Rent on renewals fell on average by 22%, equivalent to a full year saving of £100k
- Rent as a % of turnover remained static at 12% (2017 H1: 12%)
- Footwear orders placed directly with overseas factories increased to 87.1% (2017 H1: 84.7%)
- Operating from 12 big box locations at period end contributing £3.1m sales in H1
- Multi-channel sales increased by 21% to £4.9m (2017 H1: £4.0m) achieving contribution of £1.2m (2017 H1: £1.0m)
Nick Davis, Chief Executive of Shoe Zone plc, said:
“This has been a good first half for the Group, trading in line with management’s expectations and achieving profitable revenue growth.
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.”
There will be a presentation for analysts at the offices of FTI Consulting, 200 Aldersgate, London, EC1A 4HD, at 9:30am on 24 May 2018.
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