The group’s turnover for the period was a little under 1.4 billion British pounds, a decline of 6.4% year-on-year. Clarks has reported 42.9 million pairs of shoes and boots sold over the 12 months ended on the 1^st of February 2020, down by 7.1% year on year.

The only effect of COVID-19 in the results announced, was on the group’s operations in China by the end of the last fiscal year: as part of the wider Asia-Pacific market, which accounted for around 11% of revenues and around 10% of pairs sold.

The management of the company already warned about “substantial losses” for the recently ended 2020-2021 business year. However, even before the outbreak of the COVID-19 the external environment was “challenging for Clarks” as the result of a combination of uncertainty in the global economy, declining footfall and ongoing popularity of the online shopping.