20th Mar 2025 11:33
(Alliance News) - Wickes Group PLC on Thursday reported a drop in full-year earnings due to weaker demand for larger home improvement projects, but said it remains confident in 2025 expectations and announced a new GBP20 million share buyback.
The Watford, England-based home improvement retailer said pretax profit for the 52 weeks ended December 28 fell 44% to GBP23.2 million from GBP41.1 million a year earlier.
Revenue declined 1.0% to GBP1.54 billion from GBP1.55 billion, as growth in retail sales was offset by a 10.5% drop in its Design & Installation business to GBP326.5 million from GBP364.7 million. Wickes' other division, Retail, saw revenue growth of 1.9% to GBP1.21 billion from GBP1.19 billion.
The company blamed "challenging market conditions" and a slowdown in discretionary spending on big-ticket purchases, though it noted that orders for its Design & Installation division returned to growth in the fourth quarter following improvements to its customer experience.
Wickes declared a total dividend of 10.9 pence per share, unchanged from the prior year, and said it expects to maintain this payout for 2025. It also announced a GBP20 million share buyback after completing a GBP25 million repurchase programme during the year.
Looking ahead, Wickes said trading in the first 11 weeks of 2025 has been in line with its expectations.
Chief Executive Officer David Wood said: "2024 was a year of strong progress for Wickes as our balanced business model and brand strength saw us continue to deliver for customers and take further market share. Given the strong progress over the last twelve months and the good start to first-quarter, we are well on track for the coming year."
Wickes said it will release a spring trading update in mid-May. Shares were up 7.2% at 183.87 pence in London on Thursday morning.
By Eva Castanedo, Alliance News reporter
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