Dunelm has seen “strong sales growth” while pre-tax profits have declined, according to interim results for the 26 weeks to 31 December 2022.
The Leicestershire-based homewares retailer opened three new stores in the period, during which sales were up 5% to £835m, from £795.6m in the same period of the prior year, and 43% higher than pre-pandemic (in H1 FY20).
Profit before tax was down on the prior year, slipping to £117.4m from £140.8m, which the firm said was expected and reflected the impact of sale timing and strong post-pandemic demand in the prior year, as well as inflationary impacts.
Looking ahead, during the period, Dunelm made a £17m investment in digitalisation, capability and capacity to support future growth opportunity.
Reflecting on current trading the company noted that whilst customers have been resilient to date, the consumer outlook remains unpredictable. Dunelm’s profit expectations for the current year, however, remain unchanged.
Nick Wilkinson, Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are all learning to live in a new, complex and rapidly evolving economic reality. Recognising this, our focus has been on ensuring that we continue to offer outstanding value to our savvy customers through a proposition which is committed to quality, at the right price, across an expanding range of relevant products. We believe that this is why we have continued to grow our sales, customer numbers and market share.
“In this environment, agility, creativity and innovation are more important than ever and we have endeavoured to make every pound count, both for ourselves and for our customers, helping to mitigate the impact of inflation. While we do this, it is important that we also maintain our long-term thinking, invest for sustainable growth and continue to ensure we are in a position to seize the significant opportunities ahead of us.
“Much like during the pandemic, our customers, colleagues and the communities we operate in will remember how businesses behaved when times were tough, and we are confident that our approach of offering outstanding value and choice for all will enable us to – once again – emerge from this challenging period stronger than ever.”
