Shares in affordable footwear company Shoe Zone slumped by over nine per cent in early trade as the business failed to shake the hangover from its profit warning two months ago.
The London-listed retailer reported revenue of £76.5m for the 26 weeks to 30 March up by just 1.5 per cent on last year’s figures.
Store revenue was also down by 2.8 per cent to £59.4m.
The business is currently undergoing a revamp of its physical estate. At the end of the period, it traded out of 309 stores, a reduction of 27 compared to 12 months ago and 14 lower compared to last year’s end.
ShoeZone said: WIn the first half, we closed 29 stores, opened 15 new format stores and refitted 15 original stores to our new format. In total, we are now trading out of 147 Original stores and 162 new format stores. “
“We are actively working to relocate and refit further stores in the second half of the year, together with a number of stores currently in the pipeline, opening before Christmas.”
In March, the company warned that it was trading below expectations due to higher-than-expected costs and slow trading over the autumn season.
Chairman Charles Smith said: “Shoe Zone delivered a robust performance in the period against a continuing backdrop of consumer uncertainty and macroeconomic volatility.
“Total revenues increased by 1.5 per cent having traded out of 27 fewer stores compared to 12 months ago, with digital revenue increasing by 19.6 per cent. The performance further demonstrates the resilience of our business and the success of our ongoing strategy.”
He added: WTrading over all channels was positive with total revenues of £76.5m (2023 H1: £75.4m), store revenues were £59.4m (2023 H1: £61.1m – trading out of fewer stores), digital revenues were £17.1m (2023 H1: £14.3m) with strong performance across all online channels with additional growth from our online exclusive range and range extensions.”