Dr Martens has seen a partial recovery in sales over the festive period as the footwear retailer new chief said the business is making “progress.”
Dr Martens listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2021 and has issued a flurry of profit warnings then the company replaced their chief executive.
In the three months to 29 December the footwear retailer stemmed some of the losses over the festive period.
Turnover fell 3% compared to the same period the year before, however this did ease from a 18% slump the previous quarter.
Sales in the US has seen declines and the new chief executive Ije Nwokorie said the company is making “good progress.”
Overall turnover for the full year is expected to be down 9% compared to £599 million the previous year.
Nwokorie said he has “great confidence” for the year and added there are place to reduce excess stock which is “on track” and the continue to “actively manage our costs.”
He said, “The team and I are squarely focused on returning the business to sustainable and profitable growth.”
Robinhood UK lead analyst Dan Lane said, “Dr. Martens quarterly growth can’t mask what is becoming an entrenched decline year-on-year.
“It’s a big improvement on last quarter but, taking out currency effects, stagnation and falling revenue across the board is only slightly helped be the wholesale and APAC categories.
“UK Google trends show searches for Dr Martens typically spike just before and after Christmas but those peaks are getting smaller and the most recent festive period saw the first real leap in searches for Solovair – the previous manufacturer of Docs and now rival, increasingly known for keeping its own production in the UK while DMs moved abroad.
“The would-be DM-buyer values high quality and heritage – two aspects largely lost over the years as expansion favoured volume over authenticity.
“There’s a danger that investors chalk declining popularity up to cyclicality in fashion and wait for the eventual comeback but that doesn’t speak to product quality or management’s ability to keep an enduring brand desirable whatever the weather.
“Whether it’s true or not, anecdotal evidence online points to a once loyal fanbase complaining of a drop in shoe quality. That’s not something cyclicality can fix. DM needs to reassure its supporters and find a way to bring the counterculture symbol into the mainstream – a tough task and one that will surely need a sturdy pair of boots.”
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