The Danish-based footwear brand is feeling the impact from the accelerating speed of change in fashion footwear, with a fast expanding e-commerce industry forcing significant change in the retail sector, but says work is being developed to adapt to the new situation with Ecco been again "able to deliver a very satisfactory result".

Profit before tax for 2017 totaled 184 million euros, on a turnover of 1 276 million euros, compared to a profit before tax of 170 million euros in 2016. At comparable exchange rates, this is equal to a 10% increase.

“I am pleased to see how our dedicated organisation has stepped up and performed very well in 2017”, commented Steen Borgholm, CEO of Ecco Sko A/S, adding: “We have continued investing in the future and stayed committed to our strategy without losing sight of short-term performance.”

The majority of growth came from Asia. By the end of 2017, Asia Pacific made up 35% of the group’s net revenue, while the Americas made up 22%, and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) 43%. In 2017, the traditional retail and e-commerce business grew 21%, with e-commerce alone growing 47%.

Steen Borgholm added: “As a global brand with a large store portfolio and an increasingly effective online presence, we are well positioned to benefit from the changing trends, where consumers search and shop across different channels”.