Dunelm Reports Strong Revenue Growth in Half Year Trading Update

Dunelm Group plc has reported Interim Results for the 26 weeks to 29 December 2018. 

Highlights

·      Strong like for like (LFL) revenue growth of 6.9%, with increases in both stores (3.8%) and online (35.8%)

·      Growth in unique customer numbers, both instore (+4.3%) and online (+18.7%), combined with improved brand awareness

·      Multichannel proposition continues to develop and represents 15.7% of total revenues, up 3.9ppts on last year

·      Gross margin improvement of 170bps due to improved sourcing, FX benefits and removal of less profitable Worldstores lines

·      PBT of £70.0m, up 16.7% year on year (FY18: £60.0m before exceptional costs)

·      Strong cash conversion with free cash flow of £91.2m (FY18: £27.8m)

·      Interim dividend increased by 7.1% to 7.5 pence per share (FY18: 7.0p)

Nick Wilkinson, Chief Executive Officer, commented: 

"It's been a good first six months with our strong performance reflecting the focus we have placed back on the core Dunelm business. The like-for-like revenue growth, both in stores and online, demonstrates the progress we are making in improving our multichannel proposition whilst maintaining the breadth and depth of our specialist customer offer in homewares.   On top of this, good operational discipline and keeping things simple, is driving a better financial performance."  

"We traded well through our key Winter Sale period and remain pleased with our performance to date.  As previously highlighted, we are cautious about the outlook for the remainder of the financial year due to the continuing political uncertainty in the UK.   We are confident in delivering market expectations⁵ for the full year assuming no material change in the macro-economic environment." 

"Looking to the future, we will continue to grow the business as we become a truly multichannel homewares destination, making Dunelm the first choice for even more customers, and further strengthening our market leading position."

Source : Insight DIY Team and Dunelm

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