Tradies buying fashionable workwear brand FXD with gusto have helped push skateboards and apparel company Globe International to a sharply higher net profit and a 20 per cent rise in final dividend for shareholders who include billionaire retailer Solomon Lew.

The FXD workwear and boots brand has been making inroads in a highly competitive market where it competes against brands including King Gee, Hard Yakka and Bisley, which have much longer histories. Globe chief executive Matt Hill said on Thursday it had the attributes to become a global brand.