Dunelm’s profits fall despite sales increase
Dunelm has increased its sales by 5% to £835 million in the first half of its financial year, although its profits were down as expected.
Compared to pre-pandemic levels three years ago, sales were up 43%.
In the six months to 31 December, customers responded well to the homeware retailer’s significantly increased range on Dunelm.com, where it launched around 10,000 new SKUs. Online accounted for 34% of total sales compared to 33% a year earlier.
During the period, the company grew its number of active customers by 5.7% year-on-year and saw a 4.8% increase in shopping frequency.
Nick Wilkinson, chief executive of Dunelm 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.”
However, Dunelm’s pre-tax profit fell by 16.6% to £117.4 million, as expected, following the impact of its sale timing, inflation and strong post-pandemic demand in the prior year.
Wilkinson added: “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.”
