DR MARTENS PROFITS JUMP 27% AS ASIAN SALES SOAR

DR Martens’ profits have grown thanks to huge demand for its boots in Asia.

Sales across the group increased 25pc to £290.6m in the year to March 31, while earnings rose 27pc to £37.5m thanks to strong trading in Japan and South Korea.

Sales in its Asian arm rocketed 43pc to £66.4m and in Japan alone they soared 88pc to £22m.

Dr Martens, which opened five stores in Japan and two in Hong Kong during the period, is among a number of British-led labels that have bene- fited from Asia’s growing middle class which is tipped to swell to 4.9bn people by 2030 from 1.8bn in 2009.

Dr Martens, owned by investment firm Permira Funds, said its best-selling boot globally is the 1460 Black Smooth, which sells for £130. The 1460 is the original Dr Martens boot and features eight eyes, grooved sides and yellow stitching. Most of its boots are made overseas, but about 70,000 a year are still produced at its factory in Northampton, where they have been put together since 1960.