Dunelm Expects Full-Year Trading to be Ahead of Expectations

Dunelm Group plc has published a trading update ahead of its year-end date of 29th June 2019.

The company states that it has continued to see strong trading across its business and therefore expects the outturn for its financial year to 29 June 2019 to be ahead of the Board's previous expectations.

Dunelm said: 

"Since we last updated on 10 April 2019, we have seen very good year-on-year total like for like ("LFL") growth, particularly in May and June, reflecting both the soft comparator period (Q4 2018 Total LFL growth of 0.1%) and the unseasonably favourable weather conditions this year. 

"As a result, the Board currently expects profit before tax for the year to be in the range of £124-126m (Underlying PBT 2018: £102.0m).

"We will provide further details in our scheduled Q4 and year-end update on 10 July 2019."

Stifel, a full-service brokerage and investment banking firm, has upgraded FY19 EPS by 4% following this morning's unscheduled announcement.  They said:

"Fashion retailers and pubs may dislike early summer rain but, in contrast to last year's heatwave, Dunelm has benefited from the drizzle. Today's announcement caps a tremendous (27%) recovery year for the group. Our assumptions for FY20 are for more modest growth, led by internal initiatives. The 17x P/E is justified by strong cash generation and potential for a cash distribution, in our view."

Source : Insight DIY Team and Dunelm

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