Shoe Zone ups full-year profit outlook again following strong August trading

British footwear retailer Shoe Zone has upped its profit guidance for the second time in just over a month as it continues to experience better than expected sales.

In a brief statement on Wednesday, the company said its trading has “continued to exceed expectations” thanks to “strong demand” for summer and back to school products throughout August.

It said it also has continued to benefit from margin improvements as a result of good supply chain and cost management.

Based on its trading, the company now expects full-year adjusted profit before tax to be no less than 10.5 million pounds.

It comes after Shoe Zone already upped its outlook at the end of July to at least 9.5 million pounds of adjusted profit before tax, after a previous estimate of no less than 8.5 million pounds.

Shoe Zone benefits from back-to-school sales

In its most recent trading update for the six months to April 2, Shoe Zone reported a profit before tax of 3.1 million pounds compared to a loss of 2.6 million pounds a year earlier.

In the same period, its revenue surged 73 percent to 69.9 million pounds.

The company’s digital sales reduced to 11.8 million pounds during the period, but more than doubled on a two year basis.

The retailer said at the time that it aims to double big box locations to approximately 100 and hybrid stores to 200 in the medium term.

Shoe Zone operates from a portfolio of 388 stores and has approximately 2,850 employees across the UK.