Dr Martens shares tumble to record low as bootmaker warns on profits

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Dr Martens has warned that annual profits will miss forecasts as a slowdown in the US market deepens, sending shares in the UK bootmaker down by almost a quarter to a record low.

A recovery in the US, where the company has been beset by a series of distribution and marketing issues over the past year, would now take longer than anticipated, it said on Thursday.

Chief executive Kenny Wilson cautioned that there was “an increasingly difficult consumer environment” in America.

Once a favourite of youth subcultures and heavy metal music fans, Dr Martens has become a mainstream bootmaker with its styles as likely to be seen paired with a suit as with ripped jeans.

Shares in the group tumbled 22 per cent in early trading, taking their drop since the company went public in 2021 to more than 70 per cent.

UK private equity firm Permira bought Dr Martens for £300mn in 2014 and has sold down some of its stake since the initial public offering.

Analysts at RBC Capital Markets said: “While the macro component is clearly a headwind, we also question whether there is a brand/product cycle issue and despite the attractive valuation [we] believe it is too early to step in to the shares.”

Dr Martens said that earnings in the current financial year would be “moderately below” the bottom end of the range expected by analysts. With the US picture worsening, Dr Martens also said it was dropping a previous forecast that revenues would grow in the “high single-digits” in its next financial year.

In contrast to the US market, Dr Martens said trading in Europe and Asia had held up in the first half. But that was not enough to prevent its first-half revenues falling 5 per cent to £395mn. Pre-tax profits in the period dropped to £25mn from £57mn.