Shoe Zone Unveils £50m London IPO

Shoe Zone will float onto the London Stock Exchange in the latest IPO of a bumper year for public listings.

Between 40% and 50% of the company will be offered to investors when the flotation takes place in May and potentially raising £50m (€61m, $84m).

The value footwear retailer has 554 stores across the UK and Ireland, employing 4,100 people. It sells 20 million pairs of shoes a year.

In the year to 5 October, 2013, Shoe Zone revenues were £193.9m, a 2.4% rise on the year. Pre-tax profit over the same period was up 66.1% to £9.3m.

"Shoe Zone has a strong market position as a leading UK specialist value footwear retailer and we believe we are well placed to benefit from any growth in the UK footwear market," said Anthony Smith, chief executive of Shoe Zone.

"We have a robust track record of consistent and profitable growth with a cash generative business model which we expect will deliver an attractive yield for investors."

The firm will float onto the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

Other UK firms floating in 2014 include online takeaway ordering service Just Eat and Pets at Home.