Shoe Zone profit on track in ‘difficult’ year
Shoe Zone has said that it expects its full year pre-tax profit before exceptional items to be in line with its revised market expectations.
In a full year pre-close update, the value footwear retailer also said that revenues in the 53 weeks to 5 October were approximately £161.9 million compared to £160.6 million in the previous year.
Back in August, Shoe Zone said it had experienced challenging trading conditions in the second half of its financial year. However, the company has benefited from strong performances from both its online business and big box format stores.
Shoe Zone ended the year with 500 stores after opening 24 new shops and closing 16 stores in the period. Of the 24 new shops, 21 were in the big box format which means it now has 40 big box stores operating across the UK. It expects to increase this number to 45 by the end of the year.
Anthony Smith, Shoe Zone chief executive, said: “Shoe Zone has ended this difficult year in line with our revised expectations. It is early days in the new financial year, but we have been encouraged by the performance so far. There are a further twenty big box openings planned for the coming year which, alongside our strong digital momentum, will continue to drive growth in the future.”
