Dr Martens shares plunge on strategic changes and weak boot sales

Dr Martens PLC on Thursday said weaker boot demand, hit by hot summer weather, and ongoing transformation efforts widened its adjusted pretax loss as shares plunged.

Shares in the London-based footwear and apparel company plunged 16% to 53.00 pence on Thursday in London.

Pretax loss for the six months ended September 27 narrowed 23% to £8.5 million from £11.0 million a year ago.

However, adjusted pretax loss widened 46% to £13.7 million from £9.4 million a year ago. Adjusting items included the removal of £8.9 million in income from the sale of the group's rights to US tariff refund claims.

Revenue fell 9.8% to £290.4 million from £322.0 million a year ago, as total pairs sold declined 11% to 4.2 million from 4.7 million.

Adjusted loss before interest and tax was £2.8 million, compared with a profit of £3.1 million a year ago.

Chief Executive Ije Nwokorie said: "During the first half we experienced a challenging period for our core boots category, which was impacted by the exceptionally hot summer weather.

"The weakness in boots combined with the impact of the planned critical changes to our direct-to-customer proposition means that the first-half performance we're announcing today is disappointing.

"While we saw resilience in shoes and sandals, this was not enough to mitigate the decline in boots. We lessened the impact on profit from the revenue decline with good gross margin performance and continued tight cost control."

The company maintained its interim dividend at 0.85 pence per share.

Looking ahead, Dr Martens said it expected medium-term revenue growth ahead of the relevant footwear market rate.

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