Footwear retailer Accent Group‘s net profit plunged amid higher sales in the last fiscal year.

The company saw net profit dip 32.9 per cent to $59.5 million despite sales increasing 2.7 per cent to $1.61 billion. However, like-for-like retail sales fell to 1.7 per cent.

Accent Group ended the fiscal year with 895 stores including websites after opening 93 new stores and closing 19, where the company could not achieve return on investment.

The group also decided not to renew its The Athlete’s Foot (TAF) agreements at expiry and to explore the reacquisition of the remaining 60 franchise territories over the next five years. It has already taken back three TAF franchises.

“As we add and grow new businesses, the company continues to evaluate business unit performance to drive investor returns,” said Daniel Agostinelli, Accent Group CEO.

“We advise today that The Trybe business has been sold and that the company will not continue with the Cat distribution agreement beyond its expiry at the end of December 2024.”

Cat’s six remaining stores will close or transition throughout this year with no material financial impact as Accent Group notes the workwear retail business is relatively small compared to its other businesses.

For the current fiscal year, the company plans to open at least 50 new stores. In the first seven weeks, total sales grew 8.7 per cent from the year-ago period.

Like-for-like retail sales jumped 3.5 per cent.

“The Accent team is focused on executing our plan for FY25, which includes strong new products, opening at least 50 new stores, growth from our existing and new distributed brands, and a continued drive on cost efficiency and gross margin improvement,” said Agostinelli.