Shoe Zone Sees Full-Year Loss of Up to £1 Million After First-Half Results Weaken
Key Facts
Shoe Zone’s first-half 2026 results showed its pre-tax loss widening to £5.3 million from £2.3 million in the comparable period, as revenue fell across its main sales channels. The company cut its forecast in April for the financial year ending in October, moving from adjusted pre-tax profit of £1 million to a loss of between £1 million and £2 million. It then improved its guidance in July, expecting the adjusted loss to be no more than £1 million after sales beat market expectations in May and June. That puts the first-half results within a financial year marked by successive changes to performance guidance. The company has scheduled a full-year trading update for October, with full-year results due in January 2027.
Store revenue was £45.8 million in the first half, down 14.1% from the comparable period, while digital revenue fell 6% to £17.1 million. The comparison shows declines in both stores and the digital channel, with a steeper fall in store revenue. The company said trading remained negatively affected by a further weakening in consumer confidence. It also attributed this to lower footfall and discretionary spending, alongside higher container and freight costs linked to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. These factors reflect the pressures the company cited in explaining the period’s performance.
Despite the wider pre-tax loss, net cash was £7.5 million at the end of the first half, compared with £1.7 million in the comparable period. The board did not propose an interim dividend for the first half, and there was no interim dividend in the comparable period. This information differs from cancelling a final dividend or announcing a new decision in October; the available disclosure concerns the period’s interim dividend. In the previous financial year, Shoe Zone revenue fell 7.6% to £149.1 million in 2025 from £161.3 million in 2024. Adjusted pre-tax profit also declined to about £2.4 million from £10 million, according to the company’s annual trading update.
The company reported pre-tax profit of £3.3 million in 2025, down from £10.1 million in the previous year, and announced no dividend at the time, after paying 2.5 pence per share in 2024. In April 2026, it cut its annual guidance from expected adjusted profit of £1 million to an expected adjusted loss of between £1 million and £2 million, citing weak consumer confidence and freight and container costs. It said in July that it expected an adjusted loss of no more than £1 million after sales beat market expectations in May and June. The shares rose 19% in the session following that announcement, according to coverage published in July. In August, the company said trading had remained positive through July and that cash and cash equivalents stood at about £7 million on 25 July, above the original budget. It also announced a share buyback programme worth up to about £3.5 million.
Shoe Zone aims to complete its store relocation and refurbishment programme by the end of 2027, subject to market conditions. The next milestone for investors is the full-year trading update scheduled for October 2026. The official calendar gives January 2027 as the date for publication of the full-year results for the 2025/2026 financial year. Those results are expected to cover the financial year that ended on 3 October, according to the context of the update in the information provided. Until the update and results are published, the annual guidance issued in July remains an adjusted pre-tax loss of no more than £1 million.