DFS makes ‘good progress’ with profits in line with expectations
Furniture retailer DFS has said it made good strategic progress in the year to 30 June with like-for-like sales growth across all of its brands.
In a period end trading update, the company said group underlying gross sales rose by 7%. Online like-for-like gross sales climbed by 17%.
DFS now expects underlying pre-tax profit to be slightly above £50 million, which is in line with expectations. This compares to £38.3 million in the previous year which covered the 52 weeks to 28 July 2018.
The company said its Sofology brand achieved strong like-for-like gross sales growth. Profitability is in line with expectations.
Looking ahead, the company said it remains mindful that the volatile political and economic backdrop may have a further impact on the UK’s low consumer confidence levels.
It added: “Whilst weak trading environments make it harder to achieve significant levels of revenue growth, our omnichannel consumer offer, showroom sales densities, scale of operations and portfolio of well-recognised brands provide some resilience. We also believe that we can continue to drive profit benefits and synergies from our previous capital investments and acquisitions.”
DFS has also announced that it has appointed Mike Schmidt as chief financial officer. Schmidt was previously carrying out the role on an interim basis.
Prior to joining DFS as chief development officer in 2014, Schmidt spent 13 years working for investment banks such as UBS and Citi. At DFS, he led the acquisition of Sofology and has also served as chair of Sofa Workshop and Dwell.
