Dunelm half year sales up 5pc
Homewares chain Dunelm, which has stores across the Black Country, Staffordshire and Shropshire, saw sales rise five per cent to £835 million in its latest half year.
Pre-tax profit however was down 166 per cent at £117.4m for the six months to the end of December
Chief executive Nick Wilkinson said: "We are all learning to live in a new, complex and rapidly evolving economic reality. Recognising this, our focus has been on ensuring that we continue to offer outstanding value to our savvy customers through a proposition which is committed to quality, at the right price, across an expanding range of relevant products. We believe that this is why we have continued to grow our sales, customer numbers and market share.
"In this environment, agility, creativity and innovation are more important than ever and we have endeavoured to make every pound count, both for ourselves and for our customers, helping to mitigate the impact of inflation. While we do this, it is important that we also maintain our long-term thinking, invest for sustainable growth and continue to ensure we are in a position to seize the significant opportunities ahead of us.
"Much like during the pandemic, our customers, colleagues and the communities we operate in will remember how businesses behaved when times were tough, and we are confident that our approach of offering outstanding value and choice for all will enable us to – once again – emerge from this challenging period stronger than ever."
Digital, including home delivery and click and collect, made up 34 per cent of total sales in the half year. Total sales were 43 per cent higher than the pre-pandemic period in 2020.
Three new stores opened, including one relocation, in the half year.
It said the lower profit figure reflected strong post-pandemic demand in the previous year and inflationary impacts.
