Dr Martens swung to a pre-tax loss in the first half, as elevated costs and weakness in wholesale revenue, especially in the US, weighed on its bottom line.
For the six months ended 29 September 2024, the bootmaker reported a pre-tax loss of £28.7m, compared with a profit of £25.8m a year earlier.
While Dr Martens faced challenges, particularly in North America, it noted that trading since the start of the autumn-winter season has shown some signs of improvement, with all three regions—EMEA, Americas, and APAC— seeing positive performance.
“Encouragingly, trading has been driven by good DTC sales of new products supported by our new product-led marketing approach,” it added.
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In response to ongoing financial pressures, the business has accelerated its cost-cutting initiatives and now expects to achieve £25m in savings in FY26, at the top of its previous guidance.
Around two-thirds of those savings are from job cuts, it said, with most staff departures occurring by the end of the first half.
It also achieved a significant reduction in both inventory and net debt, and refinanced its debt facilities.
As a result, its guidance for FY25 remains unchanged, “with results underpinned by the swift cost action taken”.
Dr Martens also confirmed that Ije Nwokorie will take over as CEO from Kenny Wilson on 6 January as part of a planned leadership transition.
Kenny Wilson will support the new CEO and the leadership team until the end of March 2025 to ensure a smooth handover.
Wilson said: “Our first half performance was in line with expectations and we remain confident in our ability to deliver on our plans and the targets we set for FY25. As we shared in May, this is a year of transition and we have made good progress with our four main objectives: pivot our marketing to a relentless focus on our product, turn around our USA DTC performance, reduce our operating cost base and strengthen the balance sheet.
“Our new marketing campaigns are showing encouraging early signs, with strong sales of new product, giving us confidence that we will return USA DTC to positive growth in the second half. We took swift action to implement cost savings and now anticipate the benefit of this in FY26 to be at the top of the previous guidance range of £20-£25m, alongside an ongoing focus on tight cost control throughout the business.
“The early success of our new product ranges provides a strong foundation as we enter the important peak trading period and as I prepare to hand over the reins to Ije in the new year.”
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