Dr. Martens, owned by global investment firm Permira, announced growth across all markets with an accelerated growth in Asia for its full year financial results ending March 31, 2017.
Despite the company’s CEO having stepped down last month, the company saw a successful year.
Dr. Martens saw a revenue increase of 43 percent to 66.4 million pounds ($87.7 million) for the year, and an EBITDA up 105 percent to 13.5 million pounds ($17.8 million), thanks to strong performances in Japan and South Korea, along with increasing gross margins in Japan. In fact, Japan saw a whopping growth across all channels, with total revenue up 88 percent to 22 million pounds ($29 million).
“Dr. Martens has had another exceptional year, achieving significant growth in our core markets. Our investment in international stores continues to deliver positive returns with considerable gains in retail sales, most notably in Asia,” said Jon Mortimore, Dr. Martens CFO. “Revenue in that region finished up 43 percent to 66.4 million pounds ($87.7 million) and EBITDA grew 105 percent to 13.5 million pounds ($17.8 million) with particularly strong growth in Japan.”
Related Stories
EMEA also saw a strong year, with revenue increasing 25 percent to 118.2 million pounds ($155.6 million). Meanwhile, the Americas saw slow growth, with 16 percent revenue increase to 106 million pounds ($140 million), and strong direct-to-consumer, retail and e-commerce sales. The Americas faltered in the wholesale segment, after the brand’s decision to stop supplying low margin special made-for-customer product to certain accounts.
The company reported increased geographic diversification with Asia representing 23 percent of revenue, while EBITDA grew 27 percent. Overall revenue came in at 290.6 million pounds ($383.8 million), up 25 percent.
Meanwhile, share of revenue grew by 5 points to almost 30 percent in the year, driven in part by the success of Dr. Martens’ DM’s Lite collection.
“Despite a challenging retail environment, we have delivered double digit growth across all areas of the business and continue to see the investments in our people, structure and operations as an integral part of our aim to deliver long-term sustainable growth,” said Paul Mason, chairman of Dr. Martens.
The company reported 38 percent growth in retail revenue to 78.9 million pounds ($104.2 million), a 54 percent growth in e-commerce to 32.4 million pounds ($42.8 million).