Shoe Zone hikes profit expectations after even better trading

Shoe Zone announced on Monday that, further to its full-year trading update on 13 October, reported profit before tax was now expected to be in the range of £9m to £10m for the 52 weeks ended 2 October.

The AIM-traded footwear retailer said that underlying trading had been better than expected, and alongside the ongoing year-end review process, it had concluded that it would not be required to recognise around £1.5m of one-off additional pension contributions within its income statement.

“This adjustment has led to an increase in expected profit before tax for the full year,” the board said in its statement.

“The company has also benefited from favourable foreign exchange rates, particularly versus the dollar, which adds a further revaluation benefit of approximately £0.4m from the previous forecast.

“The company is still undergoing the audit review process and expects to announce final audited figures for the 52 weeks to 2 October in January.”

At 1525 GMT, shares in Shoe Zone were up 17.61% at 106.44p.