Dr. Martens confirms full-year guidance as trading remains on course

Dr. Martens has reiterated its full-year guidance stating that trading since the start of this financial year has been in line with expectations.

The historic British footwear brand said that retail had continued its strong recovery in the wake of the pandemic, while its wholesale order book had continued to increase beyond 85% of the full-year level.

Earlier this year Dr. Martens revealed that it would be implementing price increases from AW22 to help offset increased supply chain costs and these were implemented from the start of this month. In the financial year to date, it has also opened 10 new stores and states that its third-party factories are operating at 90%-95% capacity with shipping lead times "steadily improving".

Last month the business revealed that revenues in the year to 31 March 2022 had increased by 22% to £908.3 million despite significant market headwinds. Underlying earnings for the year hit £263m.

At the time the company had forecast revenue growth in the "high teens" for the current financial year and said that it would be accelerating its store openings programme to around 25-30 openings per year as it focused on direct-to-consumer sales.

Dr. Martens CEO Kenny Wilson described the last financial year as one of "outstanding progress" for the business, saying that the performance demonstrated "the strength of the Dr Martens brand and its universal and evergreen appeal to consumers of all ages and genders in markets around the world".

The business will be staging its AGM in London today meanwhile shares were up 0.33% on early trading to 241.2p.