Dunelm posts strong sales and profit uplifts
Dunelm has posted a strong uplift in full year sales and pre-tax profit after emerging from the Covid crisis as a “bigger and stronger business”.
The homeware retailer’s total sales grew by 16.2% to £1.55 billion in the year to 2 July while pre-tax profit climbed by 32.4% to £209 million.
The retailer benefited from its stores being open for the entire year following previous Covid-19 related disruption. It also made gains from its continued investment in digitising the business and improving operational capability. This included the opening a dedicated ecommerce distribution fulfilment facility and a new furniture warehouse in the period to help improve customer service.
Nick Wilkinson, chief executive of Dunelm, said: “Our colleagues and our committed supplier partners are at the heart of our success. In another year of excellent performance, I am extremely grateful for their skill, commitment and adaptability in the face of new external challenges and during another busy period of progress across the business.
“We feel confident and well prepared to weather the current economic pressures – we emerged from an unprecedented global pandemic as a bigger, better business and we believe we have the tools in place to do that again. That said, the operating and economic environment is extremely challenging.”
Giving an update on more current trading, Dunelm said sales have remained robust in the first ten weeks of its new financial year. It expects to deliver around a 50% gross margin for the full year and will manage costs through efficiency improvements and operational grip. In addition, it is expecting to achieve full year results in line with analysts’ expectations.
Wilkinson added: “In this environment, we have to make every pound count, both for ourselves through our tight operational grip and cost discipline, and for our customers, through our offer of outstanding value at all price points.
“Dunelm, at its heart, offers customers great choice and value. Now is not the time for us to shy away from that, but for us to fully embrace it; whether it’s our Winter Warm collection or our Student Essentials range, we think Dunelm’s unique and market-leading offer is more relevant than ever before.”
