10th Feb 2016 08:00
LONDON (Alliance News) - Dunelm Group PLC on Wednesday reported growth in profit in the first half of its financial year, as sales grew and it benefited from six extra days of winter price promotion.
The homewares retailer said pretax profit in the 26 weeks ended January 2 grew by 11% to GBP75.5 million from GBP68.2 million in the same period the year before, as sales rose by 10% to GBP448.1 million from GBP406.4 million. Total like-for-like sales, meanwhile, were up 4.6% to GBP404.9 million from GBP387.0 million.
Dunelm said it made solid progress in like-for-like store sales, underpinned by a strong performance from curtains and bedding, particularly in its new 'kids' range.
However it did note that like-for-like growth was also boosted by GBP10.0 million due to the period capturing eight days of its winter sale, compared to two days of winter sale in the comparative period. This was due to the last financial year having an additional 53rd week, and means the trend will reverse in the next quarter.
Adjusting for the calendar impact, underlying like-for-like performance in the first half grew 2.0%.
Dunelm increased its interim dividend by 9.1% to 6.0 pence per share from 5.5p. It will also pay a special dividend of 31.5p per share in line with its capital structure policy and reflecting continued strong cash generation, it said.
"Our focus remains on growing the business for the longer term. After making good progress so far, we are continuing to work towards our three-part growth strategy and are now focused on eight core projects that will enable us to achieve this. This will allow us to improve our business substantially for our customers and, as we increase both our store network around London and our online presence, to develop Dunelm into a truly national homewares brand," Chief Executive John Browett said in a statement.
"After a solid performance in the first half, we had a strong sale after Christmas and we expect further good progress in the remainder of the year," he added.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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