Dr. Martens warned that its profit margins will decline this year as it invests in infrastructure to solve operational problems and boost future growth.
The shoemaker has faced a series of marketing and distribution problems in the US over the past year. It revealed on Thursday that the problems had seen pre-tax profit drop by a quarter to £159m, and warned there would be more pain to come.
“Operational issues…we have shown that continuing to invest in our infrastructure and capabilities to support our increasing scale and support our long-term growth is the right thing to do,” the company said in a statement.
EBITDA margins fell 4.5 percentage points to 24.5 percent in the year ended March 31. Dr. Martins said Thursday that they will fall another 1 to 2 percentage points this year.
Shares fell 11 percent in early London trading. Its value has nearly halved over the past year.
