Profits fall by a quarter at Dunelm

Sales have risen at Leicester homewares giant Dunelm in the six months to December 21, 2016, but profits dipped after the acquisition of the loss-making Worldstores.

Revenues hit £460.5m, up 2.8% on last year, but profits dropped 26% to £55.9m.

Despite this, Dunelm’s chief executive officer thinks this is an “exciting” time for the firm.

John Browett said: “We are in a transitional year for Dunelm and it has been a particularly busy first half – whilst we are operating in a challenging retail environment, especially in homewares, we remain focused on investing in and developing our business for the future. We are still in the midst of this exciting journey, and whilst trading was slightly softer than we would have liked due to a weaker market, we continue to increase our share and are confident that we will emerge as an even stronger market leader.

“We remain committed to our long term plans for the business, with our three-part growth strategy at the centre of everything we do. We have opened five new stores in the period and have more openings and refits planned in the second half. Our home delivery channel continues to perform well and our acquisition of Worldstores will accelerate our online capabilities and growth potential.

“We have significant opportunities to improve performance through various initiatives and will continue to invest. Dunelm’s business model remains one that is hard to replicate, and we continue to generate significant levels of cash for shareholders, allowing a further increase in the dividend.”

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