Dunelm shares up as profit grows

Home furnishings retailer Dunelm (LON:DNLM) has reported a 24.3% improvement in profits before taxation for the six months ended 29th December. Revenues rose by a modest 1.2%, but gross margins climbed by 170 basis points due to better sourcing and the elimination of less profitable international lines.

Chief executive Nick Wilkinson said: “It’s been a good first six months with our strong performance reflecting the focus we have placed back on the core Dunelm business. The like-for-like revenue growth, both in stores and online, demonstrates the progress we are making in improving our multichannel proposition whilst maintaining the breadth and depth of our specialist customer offer in homewares. On top of this, good operational discipline and keeping things simple, is driving a better financial performance.

“We traded well through our key Winter Sale period and remain pleased with our performance to date. As previously highlighted, we are cautious about the outlook for the remainder of the financial year due to the continuing political uncertainty in the UK. We are confident in delivering market expectations5 for the full year assuming no material change in the macro-economic environment.

“Looking to the future, we will continue to grow the business as we become a truly multichannel homewares destination, making Dunelm the first choice for even more customers, and further strengthening our market leading position”.

The price of Dunelm shares was up 742.50p at 15:10 GMT, up by 3.56%.