Boot bang for shoemaker Dr. Martens on the London Stock Exchange


This is something to delight an entire generation! The shoe manufacturer Dr. Martens soars by more than 25% on the London Stock Exchange, signing, moreover, the largest increase in the Stoxx 600 index of major listed European stocks.

The company was founded in Munich in 1940 by Klaus Martens, a doctor of medicine, who invented an innovative shoe seven years later after suffering an injury while skiing. It has the particularity of being raised by air cushion soles. In view of the success encountered across the Rhine, where more than 200 models have been created in the space of ten years, the British industrialist Benjamin Griggs is interested in the brand and will obtain a license which will lead to the birth of the first model (” 1460”) of Dr. Martens boots, as it is still almost marketed today. The brand has since had great success, with the influence of music groups, accompanying the punk movement or for their non-conformism that will make these boots a symbol of women’s liberation. They are now considered trendy and timeless. Dr. Martens was acquired by investment fund Permira in 2014 before going public in 2021.

40% in e-commerce in the medium term

Dr. Martens Model “1460” |  Photo credits: Steve Meddle/REX/REX/SIPA

Dr. Martens Model “1460” | Photo credits: Steve Meddle/REX/REX/SIPA

As of March 31, Dr. Martens posted £214.3 million in pre-tax profits for its 2021-2022 financial year, three times more than in the previous twelve months, on sales up 18%, to 908.3 million. Sales were boosted in particular by the traditional sales channel, which benefited from the end of health restrictions linked to Covid-19 in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas. A channel considered important and profitable by the management of the group. In e-commerce, revenue rose 11% to £262.4 million, driven by brand awareness and increased consumer interest, management also reports.

The objective is to increase the share of e-commerce to 40% in the medium term, against 29% for the last financial year, while maintaining 60% of outlets in traditional distribution channels. In terms of margins, it is still planned to target 30% profitability of operating profit (profit before interest, taxes and amortization).

As for 2023, revenue growth is expected in the upper range of 0% to 10%. Faced with the rise in costs, estimated at 6% during the last financial year, the company’s strategy is simple, to pass on only this level of increase in the selling price, so as not to penalize excessively a consumer already under pressure from inflation affecting food and energy, especially electricity.




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