Promotional environment puts dent in profits at Schuh

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Oct 25, 2018

Footwear retailer Schuh, which sells big name brands such as Adidas, Puma, Nike and Timberland in over 100 stores in the UK and Ireland, has revealed that last year’s “overtly promotional” environment from Black Friday through Christmas took a toll on its profits.

The Livingston-headquartered company complained of a “lacklustre” festive sales period, blaming it for a 10% decline in pre-tax profits for the year to 3 February 2018 to £16.6m.

Profits fell despite turnover increasing from £280.9m to £308.5m during the same period, the company said.

Owned by US business Genesco since 2011, Schuh has struggled to grow profits of late, reporting net income of around £12m to £16m for the past several years.

Commenting on the latest performance, finance director David Gillan Reid said: “We had a strong start to the year, however, from Black Friday onwards, in line with retail generally, we found the market much tougher. The promotional environment on the high street continued right through until Christmas, culminating in a lacklustre festive sales period.”

Despite this, the company has continued to invest in its high street presence, opening an adult and a children’s store at Fort Kinnaird shopping centre in Edinburgh. It is also due to open a store in Eastbourne and a children’s store at the Mall Cribbs Causeway in Bristol before the end of the year.