It reported a pre-tax loss of £28.7 million for the six months ended Sept 29, compared with a profit of £25.8 million a year earlier
Dr Martens said on Thursday (Nov 28) that the autumn-winter festive season had got off to an encouraging start after the struggling bootmaker swung to a first-half pre-tax loss on weak demand in the United States, its biggest market.
Its shares, which have lost about a quarter of their value so far this year, rose 16 per cent in early trade.
The British company, whose chunky lace-up boots popularly known as “Docs” or “DMs” were originally made for workers before becoming a fashion statement in the 1960s, has been contending with a weak North American market and is betting on the festive season to shore up its sales and profit.
Dr Martens expects to make cost savings of about £25 million (S$42.5 million) in its fiscal year to end-March, 2026 with around two-thirds of that coming from job cuts.
The company reported a pre-tax loss of £28.7 million for the six months ended Sept 29, compared with a profit of £25.8 million a year earlier. Revenue dropped 18 per cent to £325 million.
To halt the decline in profit at a time when consumers are shying away from pricy items such as the brand’s US$170 classic boots, Dr Martens has sought to cut costs while also increasing spending on US marketing.
“Our new marketing campaigns are showing encouraging early signs, with strong sales of new product, giving us confidence that we will return USA (direct-to-consumer) to positive growth in the second half,” outgoing CEO Kenny Wilson said in a statement.
Wilson, who announced in April that he would step down, will be replaced by chief brand officer Ije Nwokorie on Jan 6, the company confirmed on Thursday (Nov 28).
It maintained its fiscal 2025 outlook of a single-digit percentage year-on-year revenue drop, with a worst-case scenario of pre-tax profit at around one-third of the previous year’s. REUTERS
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