Shoe Zone revenues steadied by focus on big box stores

The footwear retailer issued a trading update for the 53-week period to October 5, 2019, and reported revenues of £161.9m, up slightly from £160.6m the previous year in the face of what it described as “challenging” trading conditions in the second half.

Shoe Zone issued a profit warning at the end of August and revised its full-year profit expectations. This led to former chief executive Nick Davis resigning from his role, to “pursue other business interests”. 

The retailer ended the year with 500 stores, having opened 24 and closed 16 during the period – 21 of which were its big-box formats. This brings the total number of big-box stores across its portfolio to 40, with plans to open a further five by the end of December.

New chief executive Anthony Smith said Shoe Zone had endured a “difficult year” but would finish in line with its revised profit expectations.

“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 20 big box openings planned for the coming year which, alongside our strong Digital momentum, will continue to drive growth in the future,” he added.

Shoe Zone finished the year with a net cash balance of £11.3m, down from £15.7m at the end of the 2018 financial year.

The footwear specialist said it would continue its big-box format strategy and focus on growing its digital channels next year.

It will report its final results for the year on January 8, 2020.