City briefs: Dr Martens; Van Elle
Northants bootmaker and retailer Dr Martens has is set to report a revenue rise of 10% for full year 2023, led by strong growth in retail sales.
Direct-to-customer high street sales rose by 30%, while the firm says it expects EBITDA to be around £245m.
Meanwhile, Dr Martens says it has made good progress on resolving issues around its Los Angeles distribution centre. Earlier this year, the company blamed “people and process” errors, which caused a bottleneck of stock at the plant. It opened three temporary warehouses to release excess shipping containers and store stock away from the LA DC.
A third shift was added to focus on the additional work required to unblock the bottleneck and transfer excess stock to the temporary warehouses.
Dr Martens said full-year 2024 revenue growth is expected to be in the mid- to high-single digits.
Nottinghamshire ground engineering firm Van Elle has said it expects its full-year 2023 revenues to be in line with expectations and come in around 30% higher than in 2022.
However, the group’s trading performance since the interim results announcement in January has been subject to the impact of industry-wide softening and investment delays due to macro-economic factors in the housing and infrastructure markets respectively.
A statement from the company said: “Industry forecasts expect weaker market conditions to continue into the new financial year, particularly in the new-build housing sector. As a result, the group is undertaking a range of cost saving measures to support margins and has made strategic progress on new growth opportunities.”
These include the incorporation of Van Elle Canada ahead of major rail infrastructure and electrification opportunities in Ontario for which it say it is “well positioned” to start works during FY24.
