Slow Easter trading to hit Dunelm profits
HOMEWARES retailer Dunelm has posted its best sales performance this year but warned that profits will be slightly lower than expected due to sluggish Easter weekend trading.
The company reported that full-year sales rose 8.5pc to £955.6m, although they were dragged lower by a 7pc dip in sales over Easter.
However, Dunelm’s recent trading has been more encouraging, with sales in the 13 weeks to July 1 rising by 17.7pc to £240m, boosted by its newly acquired online retailer Worldstores, which includes Kiddicare.
Shares in the business closed up by 3.9pc at 620p as investors cheered the recent upbeat sales figures from the firm.
“The Worldstores acquisition will provide a massive leap forward to our online and store offer that we think our customers will love,” said John Browett, Dunelm’s chief executive.
He added: “The integration is going well and we are confident in the benefits it will generate.”
Mr Browett, who joined Dunelm after a short ill-fated stint at US tech giant Apple, has claimed that the firm can gain share in the homewares market. Emily Stella, a senior analyst at Global Data, added: “Dunelm’s uplifting fourth-quarter performance is a positive sign for homewares in what is a challenging retail environment.”
Around 20pc of Dunelm sales are online but the company said that it was still planning to add an extra seven stores to its 159-outlet estate and complete a further 11 shop refurbishments. “We continue to invest in the business for the longer term to improve our customer proposition and infrastructure and, despite an uncertain consumer environment, we go into the next financial year with some good momentum,” said Mr Browett.
The company said that it was expecting its pre-tax profits to be within the range of £109m and £111m.
That estimate compares to a consensus of £113m, as well as previous forecasts of £115m.