Shoe Zone blames bad weather and high shipping costs for disappointing sales

Its original profit forecast for the year was £15.2m. That was revised down to £13.8m at its interim results in June.

Shoe Zone said shipping costs had risen because of “cost pressures associated with container prices due to a reduction in the supply of shipping vessels and the continuation of a reroute away from the Suez Canal”.

The company has “experienced weaker than expected spring summer sales from April to June, due to unseasonal weather conditions”, it added.

In its interim results, the retailer said an increase in the National Living Wage to £11.44, which came in higher than analysts had expected, added at least £400,000 to projected costs between April and October.

Meanwhile, disruption to shipping lanes in the Middle East have dogged the import-heavy retailer for months.

The vital Suez Canal shipping artery in Egypt saw cargo traffic plunge by 66 per cent earlier this year because of attacks on vessels in the region.

Companies that rely on the channel, which links the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, have struggled since Iran-backed Houthi fighters started firing on ships late last year.

It has led to soaring costs for insurance, fuel and wages, making it much more expensive to import goods – like shoes – through the region.

Shoe Zone also said earlier this year that it had reduced the number of stores it is trading out of to 27, leaving it with 309 stores as of May.

That, combined with the cost-of-living crisis in the UK and poorer-than-expected weather between April and June, has hit footfall and sales.

It was recently revealed that a rebound in the number of shoppers flocking to fashion and furniture stores had helped boost retail sales in May.

The quantity of items bought rose by 2.9 per cent in May, following a fall of 1.8 per cent in April, the Office for National Statistics said. April’s data has been revised up from a previous estimate of a 2.3 per cent decrease.

The figure beat forecasts, with some economists expecting sales to rise by a softer 1.6 per cent in May.

The volume of sales rose across most sectors in May, compared with April, when poor weather reduced the number of people shopping.

Clothing retailers, furniture, footwear, sports equipment, games and toy stores had a strong month, thanks to more visitors, warmer weather and the impact of promotions.

Florists also helped drive a 3.5 per cent increase in total non-food store sales in May, which includes department stores and homeware shops.

This was the biggest monthly rise in three years, the ONS said in a statement issued in June.