Revenue has dipped slightly at Shoe Zone, the Leicester-based retailer, according to a full year trading update.
Unaudited results for the 52 weeks to 2 October 2021 indicate a total group revenue of £119.1m, down from £122.6m in 2020 and £162m in 2019. The company said this was impacted by the COVID pandemic mainly in the first half of the year as stores were closed for 16 weeks.
All stores were open and fully trading as at the end of April 2021, however, enabling the business to trade over its key ‘Back to School’ period.
Digital revenue was boosted in the year at £30.6m in comparison to £19.3m in 2020 (a 58.5% increase) and £10.6m in 2019 (a 188.7% increase). This now represents 25.7% of revenue, a result of Shoe Zone’s digital investment.
The firm further noted that profit before tax is expected to be not less than £6.5m
Chief Executive, Anthony Smith, said: “Shoe Zone has weathered an intensely challenging year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The negative impact of this has been largely mitigated due to quick action taken in areas we could control, by reducing costs, continuing and accelerating investment in our digital business and improving operations. As a result, we have emerged as a leaner, stronger and more resilient business.
“These are a solid set of preliminary results but there is still uncertainty ahead of us in the next 12 months, not only with the continuing impact of COVID, but also the challenges we face with the global supply chain and inflationary pressures. We have seen a minimum of a five-fold increase in container prices over the last 12 months and this will continue to impact us for at least a further six months until the issues being experienced in the whole supply chain return to more sensible levels.”
