(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 19 mag - The UK shoe producer Dr Martens said that in the year ended March 29, its revenue fell a reported 2.9% and dropped a constant currency 1.4% to 764.9 million pounds, in line with guidance.

Full-price direct-to-consumer (DTC) revenue however inched up 1%, with the mix improving 3 points.

In the Americas, its best-performing region, full-price DTC revenues were up 14%, with Full Price mix up 9 points.

Wholesale was up 1.2% at constant currencies. The planned reduction in clearance to focus on full-price resulted in revenue rising 1.1% at constant currencies.

The EMEA markets saw good wholesale growth, up 7.6% at constant currencies, reflecting strong partner relationships and healthy order books. The DTC performance was impacted by increased consumer participation in clearance, resulting in a 4 point decline in full price DTC mix, with full price DTC revenue down 13%. EMEA revenue overall declined by 1.7% or 3.7% at constant currencies.

APAC revenue was broadly flat and down 0.3% at constant currencies due to planned reductions in clearance activity, through both ecommerce and with select wholesale partners. As a result, the quality of revenue in APAC markets improved, with full price DTC revenue up 15%, with mix up 8 points.

South Korea's Full Price retail performance was particularly strong, reinforcing the market's strategic importance.

The gross margin increased by 120 basis points to 66.2% driven by continued tight cost control and improved full price mix. Adjusted pretax profit jumped 61.3% to 55.0 million pounds, in line with expectations.

Following the US Supreme Court judgment in February, the Group recognised the full amount of previously incurred IEEPArelated US tariff costs as an operating expense within adjusting items.

This treatment removes the impact of these tariffs from underlying cost of sales and inventory balances and ensures comparability of underlying yearonyear performance.

The group maintained the dividend at 2.55 pence per share, reflecting its commitment to shareholder returns while aligning with our long-term payout strategy.

Dr Martens aims to deliver further strong pretax profit growth in FY27, driven by operational leverage. It said it has good visibility of its supply chain costs for most of of FY27.

"We are currently navigating an unpredictable trading environment, with geopolitical uncertainty impacting consumer confidence, and against this backdrop are focused on executing our strategy. There is still ongoing work to complete in some areas of the business, including the execution of our retail strategy, which will represent a short-term revenue headwind," it said.

"However, our business is materially more resilient than it was previously and this underpins our confidence in our.

medium-term targets."

(RADIOCOR) 19-05-26 10:30:39 (0274) 5 NNNN