Shoe chain chief thrilled by three-fold profit growth

RETAILER Shoe Zone has defied the gloom on the high street by more than trebling profits in the first half of the financial year.

The company, which has five stores in Northern Ireland, posted a pre-tax profit of £955,000 in the six months to March 31, compared with £309,000 in the same period last year.

Revenue grew 1.1% to £73.7m as boss Nick Davis hailed the firm’s lease management strategy and “measured” new opening of core and “big box” stores.

Mr Davis also said Shoe Zone has been able to take “advantage of the favourable retail rental environment”, a reference to the wider malaise afflicting the sector.

“This has been a good first half for the group, trading in line with management’s expectations and achieving profitable revenue growth,” he said.

“Our ongoing strategic focus on the property portfolio has continued to benefit the group, with careful management of leases and measure opening of core and big box stores.

“Trading momentum has continued into the second half, in line with expectations for the full year.”

Mr Davis said that the company believed it was “favourably insulated against many of the structural sector issues” and remained confident of the outlook.

He added: “We are absolutely delighted that multi-channel revenue has continued to grow profitably.”