Hotter Shoes FY revenue rises, inks Marks & Spencer deal

The owner of Hotter Shoes has reported an increase in revenue at the British footwear retailer and a new partnership with Marks & Spencer.

In the year to January 30, revenue at Hotter Shoes increased 16 percent year-over-year to approximately 51.9 million pounds, despite “significant challenges” facing the sector, particularly during the second half of the year when the Omicron variant emerged.

Despite those headwinds, its Q4 revenue increased by 10 percent.

The company said it saw double-digit percentage annual revenue growth across both its digital and traditional retail channels.

Its gross margin grew to 63 percent, an improvement of 9 percentage points compared to a year earlier when the average selling prices were impacted by the pandemic.

Back in the black

On an IFRS basis, Hotter Shoes expects an adjusted EBITDA of approximately 5.5 million pounds, compared to a loss of 0.9 million pounds a year earlier.

Meanwhile, it said it expects its profit before tax and exceptional items to not be below 0.2 million pounds, compared to a loss of 6.6 million pounds the prior year.

The latest trading update comes the same month Unbound Group moved from the London Stock Exchange’s main market to its sub-market, AIM.

The move was part of a broader rebranding of the group, formerly called Electra Private Equity, as it becomes an online-first multi-brand retail platform targeted at the 55+ demographic.

Group CEO Ian Watson said in a statement: “I am delighted that the progress we have made in resetting Hotter continues to be translated into improved financial performance and momentum.”

Unbound Group also announced Thursday a partnership with Marks & Spencer to sell Hotter products on the ‘Brands at M&S’ platform. There will initially be an offering of 32 products, which will increase to 75 over time.

Watson said: “The partnership with Marks & Spencer is further testimony to Hotter’s attractiveness to other best in class retail platforms. The development of the Unbound Group platform is also gathering pace, we have strengthened the management team and we are currently engaged in positive discussions with a number of potential partners.”

Unbound Group said it is “in discussion with a number of future partners with a target launch in summer 2022”.

And looking ahead, it said its management “is confident in achieving the medium-term growth targets for both Hotter and Unbound as outlined on the Capital Markets Day in September 2021”.