{"id":2157558,"date":"2026-07-16T07:33:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T06:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/yorkshire\/?p=2157558"},"modified":"2026-07-16T07:33:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T06:33:42","slug":"dfs-cushions-the-blow-of-weaker-sofa-market-with-15m-profit-jump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/yorkshire\/news\/2157558-dfs-cushions-the-blow-of-weaker-sofa-market-with-15m-profit-jump","title":{"rendered":"DFS cushions the blow of weaker sofa market with \u00a315m profit jump"},"content":{"rendered":"
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DFS Furniture has defied a softer second-half market to deliver a strong jump in annual profits, while cutting debt and insisting it remains firmly on track to hit its long-term growth ambitions.<\/p>\n

The Doncaster-headquartered sofa retailer said underlying pre-tax profit for the 52 weeks to 28 June 2026 is expected to come in at around \u00a345m, an increase of about \u00a315m on the previous year and comfortably within its upgraded guidance range of \u00a343m-\u00a350m.<\/p>\n

The performance was driven by 2.7% revenue growth, stronger gross margins and continued cost discipline, despite a slowdown in consumer demand as the year progressed.<\/p>\n

DFS also strengthened its balance sheet, with net bank debt falling from \u00a3107m to around \u00a369m, reducing leverage from 1.4x to 0.9x thanks to robust cash generation.<\/p>\n

Trading, however, became more challenging in the second half. After seeing order intake rise 2.3% in the first six months, orders fell 4.4% in the second half as consumer confidence weakened and housing transactions slowed. Full-year order intake was down 1%, broadly in line with the wider upholstery market.<\/p>\n

Despite the tougher backdrop, DFS said continued investment in its digital platforms and people had delivered record customer net promoter scores and higher colleague engagement, leaving the business well placed for future growth.<\/p>\n

Group chief executive Tim Stacey paid tribute to staff, saying: “I would like to express my gratitude to all our talented and dedicated colleagues, whose continued commitment strengthens the DFS Group and ensures outstanding products and services for our customers.”<\/p>\n

He added: “Through the year we have made important strategic progress across the business while also delivering a strong financial performance. We have navigated the complex and changing market environment, focusing on our customer propositions combined with disciplined cost management, ensuring that we delivered our upgraded profit expectations despite the market softening in the second half.<\/p>\n

“Importantly, a strong profit performance and capital rigour has enabled us to further reduce our net bank debt and improve our leverage position, providing the Group with a solid financial foundation to navigate any further market volatility.<\/p>\n

“We remain firmly committed to our medium-term ambitions of \u00a31.4bn revenue and an 8% pre-tax profit margin, and I am confident that our strategy will drive strong shareholder returns as market conditions improve.”<\/p>\n

The retailer, which said market demand weakened following an encouraging first half, blamed the slowdown on falling consumer confidence, lower housing transactions and wider geopolitical uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Even so, management believes the combination of market leadership, a leaner cost base and a stronger balance sheet leaves the business well equipped to capitalise when consumer confidence returns.<\/p>\n

DFS will publish its full-year results on 24 September.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The UK’s biggest upholstery retailer delivers profits at the top end of upgraded guidance despite a second-half slowdown, as cost discipline, stronger margins and robust cash generation leave it well placed for growth<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":271992,"featured_media":2152164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53262,120781,47995],"coauthors":[137100],"class_list":["post-2157558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-markets","category-retail","tag-featured-story","tag-yorkshire"],"yoast_head":"\nDFS cushions the blow of weaker sofa market with \u00a315m profit jump | TheBusinessDesk.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The UK's biggest upholstery retailer delivers profits at the top end of upgraded guidance despite a second-half slowdown, as cost discipline, stronger margins and robust 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