Dr Martens CEO Kenny Wilson has decided this will be his final year as chief executive.
Wilson, who has been in the role for six years, will hand over to chief brand officer Ije Nwokorie before the end of the financial year.
Wilson said: “Dr Martens is an incredible brand powered by our fantastic people. After six years in the role, I feel that the time is right to hand over this year, and I am excited that Ije will be my successor.”
The announcement comes as Dr Martens files its Q4 results, in which it said FY24 was to be “in line with expectations.” and that there was a “range of potential outcomes” for FY25 – including a potential “worst case scenario” if sales in the US flounder.
In a statement to the market, Dr Martens said: “We have assumed that revenue declines by single-digit percentage year on year and at the PBT level we could see a worst case scenario of PBT of around one-third of the FY24 level.
“There are also scenarios where the profit outturn could be significantly better than this, with the key factor being if USA performance is stronger than our planning assumptions as we progress through the year.”
The final quarter saw the boot store’s direct-to-consumer sales record single-digit year-on-year growth, compared with a 3% decline in Q3, which it attributed to growth across EMEA and strong sales in Japan while flat in the US.
Wilson said: “The FY25 outlook is challenging, and the whole organisation is focused on our action plan to reignite boots demand, particularly in the USA, our largest market. The nature of USA wholesale is that when customers gain confidence in the market, we will see a significant improvement in our business performance, but we are not assuming that this occurs in FY25.
“We have built an operating cost base in anticipation of a larger business, however with revenues weaker, we are currently seeing significant deleverage through to earnings. Against this backdrop, we will be laser-focused on driving cost efficiencies where possible.
“We also have a number of ongoing investment projects which will deliver results in outer years. We continue to believe in our DTC-first strategy and the considerable headroom for growth. Our brand remains strong, and we have a compelling product pipeline. These all give us confidence as we look beyond this transition year to future years.”
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