‘Back-to-school’ demand generated a filip to Shoezone’s second half of the year, helping to reverse the negative impacts of the weather, increased cost of energy, the National Living Wage and increased shipping costs. It had also closed a net 26 stores during the year, all of which saw its annual revenues fall by 3 per cent to £161m with adjusted pre-tax profits down by 42 per cent to £9.5m.
Charles Smith, chairman of Shoezone, said: “A year of two halves, with the first half trading in line with expectations and ahead of the previous year, however, the second half trading was below expectations due to unseasonal weather conditions, particularly at peak summer, however, our key Back to School period traded above expectations at the end of the year.”
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