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(Alliance News) - Shoe Zone PLC on Tuesday reported increased revenue and announced a second interim dividend as it continued to benefit from a return to normalised trading after Covid disruptions.
In a trading update ahead of its full year results, Shoe Zone said revenue increased by 31% to GBP156.2 million in the year to October 1 from GBP119.1 million last year. Shoe Zone noted that this year stores traded for the full 52 weeks whereas last year Covid closures meant stores were only open for 36 weeks.
Store revenue was GBP129.8 million, up from GBP88.5 million last year, while digital revenue slipped to GBP26.4 million from GBP30.6 million.
The Leicester, England-based footwear retailer said it expects adjusted pretax profit to be no less than GBP11.0 million. Last year it reported a pretax profit of GBP9.5 million. Product margin remained constant at 61%.
The profit adjustment relates to a GBP1.4 million profit on the sale of freeholds and a foreign exchange revaluation gain of GBP1.0 million. Despite these adjustments, the company said it has "traded positively" during the period, particularly in the second half of the year which included the company's key 'Back to School' period.
Shoe Zone announced a one-off second interim dividend of 3.0 pence per share, having already paid an interim dividend of 2.5p in August. A final dividend will be announced along with its final year results.
Chief Executive Officer Anthony Smith said: "I am pleased to announce that Shoe Zone had a positive year that included a full 52 weeks trade post pandemic. We continue our strategy to expand our Hybrid and Big Box formats via refits and relocations. Shoe Zone continues to show how resilient it is, with a proven track record of delivering robust results during times of economic uncertainty."
Shares in Shoe Zone were trading 1.5% higher at 182.75 pence each in London shortly before midday.
By Chris Dorrell; chrisdorrell@alliancenews.com
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