10th Sep 2024 10:51
(Alliance News) - Wickes Group PLC on Tuesday said interim profit increased, despite a "tough" market for design and installation products in early 2024.
The Watford, England-based building supplies retailer said revenue for the 26 weeks that ended June 29 was GBP799.9 million, down 3.4% from GBP827.7 last year. However, pretax profit rose by 8.5% year-on-year to GBP22.9 million from GBP21.1 million.
The company maintained its interim dividend at 3.60 pence per share.
Wickes said that "planned action taken to mitigate the impact of inflation" had underpinned its interim results. Despite a "challenging market environment" for large purchases, which prompted a 17% decline in design & installation sales for the first half of financial 2024, Wickes reported it had already experienced a strengthened like-for-like sales growth in its third quarter trading since June.
Wickes said its new store opening program was "progressing well" with two new stores opened in the last 26 weeks in Long Eaton and Durham. The retailer also closed two stores that were not meeting its returns criteria, maintaining a total of 229 stores for the period ended June 29. The company targets an overall estate of around 250 stores over the medium term.
In May this year, Wickes completed its acquisition of a 51% controlling interest in Solar Fast, the Castleford, England-based solar installations firm owned by parent company Gas Fast Ltd. Since then, Wickes has launched its initial roll-out of solar panel installation service Wickes Solar. An "encouraging" early response means Wickes believes itself well-placed to be a market leader in the UK.
Chief Executive David Wood said: "This first half performance is testament to the hard work of all our colleagues and demonstrates the strength of our balanced business model. We achieved further volume growth and record market share gains in retail, with TradePro remaining a key differentiator. The market for design and installation remained tough during the half and Wickes was not immune; nonetheless, we have seen a positive response to our value-led Wickes lifestyle kitchen range, which is growing strongly.
"We are on track for the remainder of the year and have been encouraged by trading at the start of the second half. Looking further ahead, our outstanding customer offer, proven growth levers and focus on cost control leave us well-placed within a home improvement market which continues to offer significant opportunities."
Shares in Wickes were up 1.3% at 167.40 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.
By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter
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