Pre-tax profits up to £50.2m for DFS
DFS has recorded “Good trading performance”, with underlying pre-tax profits reaching £50.2m for the 52 weeks ending on 30 June 2019.
This compares with £38.3m in pre-tax profits for the equivalent period in 2018, with revenue up to £996.2m, from £870.5m in 2018.
The listed Doncaster-headquartered retailer of upholstered furniture has today announced its preliminary results for the 48 weeks ended 30 June 2019.
In the store’s reported figures, because of a change in the accounting period resulting in the short period of 48 weeks, pre-tax profits declined to £22.4m for the 48 weeks to 30 June 2019 compared to £25.8m for the 52 weeks to 28 July 2018.
Also in the same reported figures, revenue rose to £901m in 2019 compared to £870.5m in 2018.
Tim Stacey, Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “Our trading performance for the last financial year was good overall, as we continue to execute our new strategy to lead sofa retailing in the digital age.
“Like-for-like growth across all brands and all channels, especially online and in Sofology, has enabled us to grow our market share and as we celebrate DFS’s 50th anniversary, we believe that our Group is well positioned for the long term.
“Recent trading conditions have reflected the increasingly uncertain political and economic backdrop and we have seen reduced levels of footfall across our brands, which we attribute to lower levels of consumer confidence and housing transactions, the two key drivers of the upholstery market.
“Although we have had some success in driving conversion to mitigate this trend, we note that over the first twelve weeks of financial year order intake levels have been subdued.
“Our financial performance in the year ahead will inevitably be dependent on broader political and economic developments and at this stage it is difficult to predict what will happen specifically within the upholstery market.
“However, we remain focused on those variables that we can control and on executing our strategy, which we believe puts us in a strong position in the market over the long-term.”
