Dr Martens profits slump by more than 90%

The maker of an iconic brand of footwear have seen its profits fall by more than 90% in the last year.

Dr Martens, based in Wollaston, Northamptonshire, posted pre-tax profits for the year to March of £8.8m.

The figure for the previous year was £93m.

The company said UK revenues had been hit by "a challenging market".

The Dr Martens design originated in Germany in the 1940s and production started in the UK in 1959, when the Northamptonshire-based Griggs Group bought the patent rights.

The familiar yellow-stitched boots, made at the factory in Cobbs Lane, Wollaston, have been bought by famous names from the Sex Pistols to the Dalai Lama.

The company has been in the doldrums in recent years, with declining revenues exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis.

Underlying profits in the year to March, which do not include anything exceptional or non-recurring, have dropped from £97.2m to £34.1m.

The group said sales to consumers in the US started to grow in the second half of the year and had continued to increase, but UK revenues had remained lower since the year-end "due to a challenging market".

Despite this, Dr Martens said it expected underlying profits to rise "significantly" over the financial year ahead, with analysts expecting a jump to between £54m and £74m.

It flagged uncertainty over the impact of higher tariffs, including those imposed by the USA, but said it was holding off from price hikes for the the remainder of 2025.

The group added: "We do recognise that there is continued macroeconomic uncertainty and the full outcome of tariffs is still unknown, and we will monitor this closely through the year and take action as appropriate."

Dr Martens launched a new strategy on Thursday and its share price was up approximately 24% at market close from the start of the day.

Chief executive Ije Nwokorie said: "Our single focus in 2024-25 was to bring stability back to Dr Martens.

"We have achieved this by returning our direct-to-consumer channel in the Americas back to growth, resetting our marketing approach to focus relentlessly on our products, delivering cost savings and significantly strengthening our balance sheet."

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said there was investor optimism that Dr Martens could "kick off a sustained recovery".

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