DFS has tightened its grip on the UK upholstery market after a strong first half performance prompted the group to upgrade full-year profit expectations, underpinned by margin progression, cost discipline and strong cash generation.<\/p>\n
The Doncaster-based retailer said underlying profit before tax for the 26 weeks to 28 December 2025 is expected to come in around \u00a330m to \u00a331m, an increase of \u00a313m year on year and ahead of market expectations. As a result, DFS now anticipates full-year profits of between \u00a343m and \u00a350m, above current consensus forecasts of \u00a341m.<\/p>\n
In early trading DFS’ shares were up 4% 190.5p<\/p>\n
Trading during the period was resilient against a broadly flat market. Group order intake rose 2.3% year on year, with both the DFS and Sofology brands delivering growth despite tough comparatives. Gross sales recognised on delivery are expected to increase by around 8.7%, driven by the conversion of an elevated opening order bank alongside continued positive order intake.<\/p>\n
Operational leverage and tight cost control helped translate top-line progress into profit and cash flow. Strong free cash generation reduced net bank debt from \u00a3107m at the 2025 year end to around \u00a360m.<\/p>\n
DFS said trading through the key Winter sale period has begun in line with expectations, providing further confidence despite ongoing macroeconomic and consumer uncertainty.<\/p>\n
Alongside the trading update, the group announced the appointment of Dominique Highfield as chief financial officer, joining in May 2026 from Bloom & Wild. Highfield brings experience from senior finance and operational roles at Purplebricks, Pentland and Amazon. Interim CFO Marie Wall will support a structured handover over the coming months.<\/p>\n
Chief executive Tim Stacey said DFS\u2019s strategic focus on scale, vertical integration and data is strengthening its market-leading proposition and driving order growth across both brands. He added that the business remains on track to deliver its medium-term ambitions of \u00a31.4bn in revenue and an 8% profit before tax margin as market conditions improve.<\/p>\n
He added: “We have continued to make good progress growing our gross margins and managing our cost base effectively. As a result, I am pleased to report an upgrade to our full year profit expectations following a strong first half performance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Strong first-half trading and cash generation have driven a sharp profit uplift at DFS, prompting the furniture giant to upgrade full-year forecasts despite a flat market<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":271992,"featured_media":2088432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47995],"coauthors":[137100],"class_list":["post-2149128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retail","tag-featured-story","tag-yorkshire"],"yoast_head":"\n