Dr Martens PLC (LSE:DOCS) will hope to offer investors some kind of reassurance when its interim results are announced on Thursday, 30 November.
Lingering supply chain constraints alongside wider cost-of-living concerns, saw the FTSE 250-listed footwear maker’s shares hit all-time lows in recent weeks with a new low this morning.
This followed a series of profit warnings and missed earnings over the past year amid higher-than-expected costs from its new Los Angeles distribution centre, boardroom reshuffling including a new finance chief, and faltering demand.
Dr Martens has been hit by supply-chain constraints brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, with bottlenecks and tightening margins persisting since, and with the dwindling share price bringing the unwanted attention, for the board at least, of activist investor Sparta Capital.
The shares also faced pressure from a downgrade earlier this month from Barclays, which said the company's prospects were worsening following the recent run of poor form, noting that results would likely be heavily geared to the second half of the year, given wider macroeconomic uncertainty.
Barclays also raised concerns about increasing expenditure on store growth, suggesting margins could come under pressure.
The company said earlier this year that it expects a full year hit of around £15 million from "incremental costs" associated with the LA distribution centre, which are set to be mainly first-half weighted.
Management anticipated revenue growth in the mid to high single-digit range.
This would be higher than 2023 revenue of just above £1 billion, though margins are expected to take a hit.
The shares today fell below 106p for the first time, a new all-time low, compared to its eight times oversubscribed 2021 IPO that was priced at 370p.