Dr Martens PLC (LSE:DOCS) had another unflattering trading performance in the first half of its financial year, with revenues declining 18% year-on-year to £325 million, in line with expectations.
The iconic footwear group saw £29 million in losses before tax compared to last year’s £26 million profit.
Dr Martens has failed to impress since going public in early 2021. Since its initial public offering, shares have collapsed more than 87% amid underwhelming US sales volumes.
“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 (direct to customer) performance, reduce our operating cost base and strengthen the balance sheet,” said outgoing chief executive Kenny Wilson.
Dr Martens has touted its DTC business as a growth segment. Indeed the DTC revenue mix increased by seven percentage points in the period, but it still saw a 7% revenue decline.
“The USA is our number one priority across the business and we are implementing a detailed action plan to return this business to growth, with a target of positive DTC growth in (the second half),” the company stated in today’s interims.
A 0.85p-per-share dividend was confirmed.
Dr Martens also confirmed that Ije Nwokorie will replace Kenny Wilson as chief executive on 6 January, 2025.