Shoe Zone PLC (AIM:SHOE) shares jumped 9.5% higher to 230p in early exchanges on Friday after the footwear retailer announced that trading has been ahead of expectations since it released its interims on 16 May.
Strong demand for summer shoes and a drop in container rates, which has boosted margins, led to particularly strong trading in May and early June, the company said.
As a result, it now expects adjusted pre-tax profits of not less than £10.5mln for the year ending 2 October 2023.
Last month, Shoe Zone reported that pre-tax profit for the half year to 1 April 2023 had halved to £1.5mln, although adjusted profit before tax was slightly above management expectations.