Dr. Martens (DOCS) H2 2026 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Pivoted from a channel-first to a consumer-first strategy, focusing on brand desire, high-quality revenue, and brand investment.

• Delivered on all strategic objectives set last year, including new market entries, product innovation, and organizational simplification.

• Returned to profit before tax (PBT) growth, up 61% year-over-year, with strong cash generation and reduced net debt.

Financial highlights

• Revenue at £764.9m, down 1.4% on a constant currency basis and 2.9% year-over-year; underlying revenue up when excluding discounting and clearance.

• Adjusted profit before tax (PBT) up 61% to £55.0m reported, adjusted EBIT up 30.6% to £79.3m.

• Gross margin increased 1.2pts to 66.2% year-over-year, despite a mix shift to wholesale.

• Net debt reduced from £249.5m to £213.5m; net debt/EBITDA improved to 1.4x.

• Final dividend of 2.55p declared, consistent with prior year.

Outlook and guidance

• Confident in medium-term targets: profitable revenue growth above market, EBIT margin mid to high teens.

• Focus for FY 2027 on driving full price revenue in UK and Germany, launching new sandals range, and scaling new retail concepts.

• Wholesale order books for autumn/winter 2026 and spring/summer 2027 are strong.

• No planned price increases for FY 2027; cost base expected to remain stable.

• Store estate expected to remain broadly flat over next two years; capex of £30m planned.