The information contained within this
announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as
stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. It
forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue of the European
Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the publication of this
announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in
the public domain.
Shoe Zone
plc
("Shoezone" or the
"Company")
Full Year Trading
Update
Shoezone is pleased to
announce its unaudited full year trading update for the 52 weeks to
28 September 2024 ("FY 2024").
Financial Highlights:
·
Group revenue reduced by 2.7% to £161.3m (FY 2023:
£165.7m)
·
Store numbers, in line with plan, reduced to 297 (FY 2023:
323)
·
Product margin increased to c.62.8% (FY 2023:
62.1%)
·
Adjusted profit before tax expected to be not less than
£9.5m[1] (FY 2023: £16.5m)
· Net
cash of £3.7m (FY 2023: £16.4m)
1Adjusted to exclude the
profit on sale of freehold property (one last year) and foreign
exchange revaluation.
Financial Summary
Revenue
Revenue in FY2024 was £161.3m (FY 2023:
£165.7m). The 2.7% reduction was due to the unseasonal weather in
the second half of the year, particularly peak summer, as well as
trading out of 26 fewer stores. However, the key three weeks of
Back to School trade in August and September was positive and ahead
of the same period last year.
Product
margin
Product margin increased to c.62.8% (FY 2023:
62.1%), primarily due to lower container prices for the first half
of the year. However, we started to see container prices increase
again from March 2024 onwards, impacting the second half of the
year and this will continue into H1 2025.
Profit before
tax
Profit before tax is expected to be not less
than £9.6m (FY 2023: £16.2m). Adjusting for a £0.1m foreign
exchange revaluation gain, the adjusted profit before tax will be
not less than £9.5m (FY2023: £16.5m). The reduction, compared to
FY2023, is due to the weather impacted second half sales
performance in conjunction with year-on-year increases in the cost
of energy, depreciation, National Living Wage and containers prices
in the second half.
Net
cash
We ended the year with net cash of c.£3.7m (FY
2023: £16.4m). The reduction in net cash balance was due to
dividends paid of £8.0m, the continued investment in capital
expenditure of gross £12.3m (FY2023: £11.4m), £9.4m of which was
for the store refit and relocation programme, all of which being
offset by cash generated from profitable operations.
Dividend
A 2.5 pence per share interim payment amounting
to £1.2m was made in August 2024.
A final dividend, the amount of which is yet to
be determined, will be proposed in January 2025 alongside our final
results.
Store
numbers
We ended the year trading out of 297 (FY 2023:
323) retail stores. We closed 53 stores, opened 27 and refitted 28.
The portfolio is made up of 112 original High Street stores and 185
larger new format stores. We are continuing our strategy to expand
the number of new format stores through relocations and refits of
existing High Street stores.
Charles Smith,
Chairman stated:
"A year of two halves, with the first half
trading in line with expectations and ahead of the previous year,
however, the second half trading was below expectations due to
unseasonal weather conditions, particularly at peak summer,
however, our key Back to School period traded above expectations at
the end of the year. Our Digital business continued to grow, driven
by the introduction of free next day delivery for all shoezone.com
orders. "
We will provide a more detailed update at the
time of our final results in January 2025.
I would like to thank all of our teams for
their continued commitment and hard work that have produced these
results."
For further
information please call:
Shoe Zone
PLC
Tel: +44 (0) 116 222 3001
Charles Smith (Chairman)
Terry Boot (Finance
Director)
Zeus (Nominated
Adviser and
Broker)
Tel: +44 (0) 203 829
5000
David Foreman, James Hornigold, Ed Beddows
(Investment Banking)
Dominic King (Corporate Broking)
About Shoezone
Shoezone is a Town Centre, Retail
Park and Digital footwear retailer, offering low price, high
quality footwear for the whole family.
Shoezone operates from a portfolio of
297 stores and has approximately 2,250 employees across the
UK.
The store portfolio consists of 112
original high street store and 185 larger format stores. The new
format stores sell additional brands such as Skechers, Hush
Puppies, Rieker and Lilly & Skinner.
shoezone.com combined with the store
network, ensures a full multi-channel offering for great customer
service.
During an average year Shoe Zone
sells 13.9 million pairs of shoes per annum at an average retail
price of c.£13.30.