The nation’s largest footwear retailer Accent Group has posted record sales, profit and a massive increase in its interim dividend

The country’s largest retailer of high-end shoes and trendy sneakers has seen revenue spike nearly 300 per cent to a record $895m thanks to its mortgage-free customers.

Accent Group, whose retailer banners include Platypus, is not seeing a slowdown in spending by consumers on shoes and sneakers.

Young people free of mortgage stress and many household bills are continuing to spend up on high-end shoes and trendy sneakers, pushing the nation’s largest footwear retailer Accent Group to a near 300 per cent leap in profits and bumper 380 per cent hike in its interim dividend.

It reported record sales and profits for the first half.

Accent, whose key retail brands and shoe distribution deals include Skechers, Platypus, Hype DC, The Athlete’s Foot, Vans and Dr Martens, said that it had not witnessed any pullback in consumer spending since January -- despite the headwinds from higher interest rates and soaring inflation -- and pointed to the wealth of its core customer base for a possible reason.

“Whilst we recognise that there is some uncertainty in the economic outlook, to this point we have not yet seen any significant change to consumer spending in our categories. Many of our brands target a younger customer demographic who tend to be less impacted by interest rates and cost of living pressures,” said Accent Group chief executive Daniel Agostinelli.

Accent has reported a 39 per cent rise in half-year revenue to $825m as profit lifted 295.2 per cent to $58.327m, with earnings up 201 per cent to $91.2m and in line with guidance given to the market in January.

It is estimated that an extra week of trading in the first half of 2023 against 2022 helped add a further $36m in sales and $10m in extra earnings into the 2023 accounts.

Shareholders will be showered with a huge lift in the interim dividend after Accent declared an interim dividend of 12.5c per share, up from 2.5c paid in the previous corresponding period, and payable on March 9. The dividend was almost double what the market was expecting.

Younger buyers have flocked to buy shoes.

Accent sells shoes and sneakers across 35 websites and 805 retail stores and ended the half with a customer database of 9.6m consumers. It opened 53 stores in the half and has plans for a further 20 new stores in the second half. Its onlines sales rose 160 per cent in the first half to $134m and now make up 18.9 per cent of total retail sales.

In a trading update accompanying its interim results, Accent said strong momentum in the December half had continued with like-for-like sales in the eight weeks of the year up 23.9 per cent.

“I am delighted with the results achieved in the first half of fiscal 2023. The continued focus on customers, new product, full margin sales and return on investment has delivered a terrific first half result,” Mr Agostinelli said.

Accent said gross margin rose 190 basis points in the December half to 55.2 per cent.

“Our portfolio of global distributed brands, owned vertical brands, integrated digital capability and large store network are core assets of the group and position the company well for growth into the future,” he said.

It was also continuing to invest in new store concepts, and now has 15 Nude Lucy concept stores with strong early results. Nude Lucy is a fast-growing, lifestyle apparel brand that was acquired as part of the Glue Store transaction in 2021.

Based on the success of this brand within Glue Store, external wholesale customers and the successful trial of a stand-alone retail concept, the next phase of store rollout has commenced, Accent said.

Citi analyst Sam Teeger said the market would be impressed by the better than expected trading update and its growth options including the success of Nude Lucy which was important for the market’s ability to have faith in Accent’s new concept strategy.