DFS sitting pretty after record year
DONCASTER furniture retailer DFS is sitting comfortably following a record year, which it put down to its “tried and tested” growth strategy.
Revenues were up 7.1% to £756m from £706.1m last year, whilst adjusted profits after tax leaped to £50.3m from £39.5m the year before.
The company has seen owners Advent International, a private equity firm which acquired the chain from Sunday Times Rich List’s Lord Kirkham back in 2010, sell off major stakes in the business which floated in March 2015.
It sold £90m worth of shares worth 14.1% earlier this year, on top of another 15% stake it had disposed of in October last year.
This year three new 10-15,000 sq ft DFS stores opened in the UK and Ireland, and Nicola Bancroft took over as chief financial officer from retiring Bill Barnes.
DFS chairman Richard Baker said: “The tried and tested DFS growth strategy has delivered another set of record results and puts us in an excellent position, as the market leader, to continue to generate shareholder value. Our unique and flexible business model, the quality and commitment of our people, our family culture and our focus on customer satisfaction remain the key factors behind our continuing success.”
DFS chief executive officer Ian Filby said: “It is naturally pleasing to again report record results that demonstrate the robustness of our business model, the effectiveness of our growth strategy and the excellence of our products and our people. Together these unique assets give DFS the proven ability to achieve consistent outperformance of the retail furniture market over the long-term.”
