Dr. Martens said on Thursday that the autumn-winter festive season shows signs of “encouraging” trading despite the troubled footwear maker swinging to a loss for the half year as its woes in the U.S. continued. The company got off to an encouraging start as investors welcomed a reduction in net debt as the bootmaker tries to turn its performance around. Dr. Martens stock surged on Thursday.
Dr. Martens share price, which have lost about a quarter of their value this year, jumped 13% despite the company reporting a pretax loss for its first half. This was as the market focused on lower inventory, cost savings and better current trading.
Dr. Martens’ declining revenue
Dr. Martens, a footwear expert, has gone into the red as its half-year revenue fell even m n ore. According to actual currency rates, income decreased by 18% for the 26 weeks ending 29th September 2024, totalling US $ 411.21 million.
Dr. Martens, whose $170 chunky lace-up boots known as “Docs” or “DMs” were originally made for workers before becoming a fashion statement in the 1960s, has faced weaker demand and it is betting on the holiday shopping season to boost its sales and profit.
Dr. Martens’ sales expectation
“We’re seeing really good sales of new products in the U.S.,” CEO Kenny Wilson said in an interview. “The big weeks are really ahead of us but we’re quite encouraged by what we’re seeing at the moment.”
Chelsea boots with faux-fur lining have been selling well, alongside new products like the Anistone biker boots, Wilson said, adding that core products like the brand’s 1460 boot in a new softer leather have also done well.
The period between U.S. Thanksgiving and Christmas is the most important of the year for Dr. Martens, whose biggest market is the U.S. This period accounts for 40% of Dr. Martens’ annual sales, Wilson said.
Dr. Martens’ financial update
The bootmaker expects to make cost savings of about 25 million pounds ($31.64 million) in its fiscal year to end-March 2026 with two-thirds of that coming from around 140 job cuts.
Dr. Martens’ net debt fell by 27% by Sept. 29 from a year earlier and inventory was down by 69.1 million pounds as the company reduced its purchases of new boots.
The company reported a pretax loss of 28.7 million pounds for the six months ended Sept. 29, compared with a profit of 25.8 million pounds a year earlier. Revenue dropped 18% to 325 million pounds.
Dr. Martens maintained its 2025 outlook of a single-digit percentage year-on-year revenue drop.
“While peak trading is still to come, we view these results as the first step in restoring confidence in the long term story,” Investec analyst Kate Calvert said.
Dr. Martens CEO steps down
Kenny Wilson, who announced in April that he would step down, will be replaced by Ije Nwokorie, currently chief brand officer, on January 6.
Dr. Martens remained hopeful about the future. The firm claimed that “swift action” had been taken to put in place a cost-cutting plan that, “at the top end of previous guidance,” would result in $ 31.67 million in FY ’26.
Stock update
At closing Dr. Martens stock was at a price of $65.27 swinging up 12.93%. Overall, Dow Jones futures rose modestly early Friday, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures, after the U.S. markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The stock market rally saw the major indexes fall on Wednesday heading into Thanksgiving, but came off lows as Treasury yields extended their retreat.
