Shoe Zone sees overall trading levels drop 20% amid Covid-19

Footwear retailer Shoe Zone said on Wednesday that overall trading levels had been roughly 20% lower year-on-year since reopening in June, while digital trading had roughly doubled.

While Shoe Zone said the latter was "encouraging", the group cautioned that it had not been sufficient to fill the deficit from store sales.

The AIM-listed group also highlighted that further recent government lockdown guidance had "not helped the situation", pointing to "disappointing announcements" in Wales and the Republic of Ireland for adding "further uncertainty" to England's the new tier system.

Shoe Zone said it had generated full-year revenues of approximately £122.6m, down from £161.9m a year earlier, and now expects to report a loss before tax for the period in the range of £10.0-12.0m.

Chief executive Anthony Smith said: "Shoe Zone has ended an incredibly challenging year with a robust plan and sufficient funding in place to ensure the future survival of the business. The exceptional growth in digital sales since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic demonstrates the flexibility of our operating model, and follows the decision to create an autonomous Digital department in 2019.

"However, it is very difficult at this stage to provide meaningful guidance on the future outlook, given the material uncertainty in the wider economy."

As of 0930 GMT, Shoe Zone shares had sunk 20.70% to 36.08p.