Dunelm’s £137m hit after profit fall

Dunelm saw £137.1m wiped off its value after its chief financial officer left amid a plunge in profits.

Shares in the homeware retailer dived 10.5pc or 68p to 578.5p after profits fell 8pc to £60m in the 26 weeks to December 30.

meanwhile, the group’s finance boss Keith Down announced he would be leaving on June 15 ‘for personal reasons’.

The company’s profit margins have been squeezed by its purchase of internet retail group Worldstores which it bought in 2016 for £8.5m in a bid to push online sales.

The results will be a blow for chief executive nick Wilkinson who joined Dunelm in December.

Though sales increased 6pc during the period, analysts said this did little to appease shareholders without profitability to match it.

AJ Bell investment director Russ mould, said: ‘Dunelm remains in the doghouse amid the latest demonstration that acquisitions are just as capable of destroying value as they are at creating value.’

Cantor Fitzgerald analysts said, however, that in the long run the homeware firm will benefit from buying Worldstores.