23rd Mar 2016 07:55
LONDON (Alliance News) - DFS Furniture PLC on Wednesday said it swung to profit in the first half of its financial year, reflecting lower one-off charges following its listing in London last year, as sales grew and DFS hiked its dividend.
The FTSE 250-listed sofa retailer said its pretax profit for the 26 weeks to January 30 was GBP16.2 million, compared to a GBP14.4 million loss a year earlier when the group booked costs related to its listing in London and to its international expansion.
Gross sales for the half increased 7.0% to GBP461.3 million from GBP431.2 million. The growth was driven by 6.2% growth in like-for-like sales for DFS, plus increased contributions from its Sofa Workshop and Dwell brands.
DFS opened two new stores in the UK and Ireland in the half, plus a second store in the Netherlands. It said online sales continued to grow in the half and it extended its brand partnerships in the period.
The company will pay an interim dividend of 3.5 pence per share, up 13% on the 3.1p payout a year earlier.
"I am pleased to report continued good sales growth through the first half of our financial year, reflecting the success of our growth initiatives and the current health of the furniture market environment," said Ian Filby, DFS's chief executive.
"Given broadly stable general macro-economic trends in the UK, we have confidence that our strong competitive position and strategic initiatives mean that the group is well placed to sustain its record of sales growth, market share capture and cash generation over the year as a whole," he added.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Dfs Furn