Wickes makes “encouraging” start to the year
Wickes has said it made an encouraging start to its new financial year with sales in line with expectations.
Sales at the home improvements retailer edged down 0.6% in the 16 weeks to 22 April.
Delivered Do-it-for-me sales were ahead by 9.3% in the period, although core like-for-like sales fell by 3.6%. Wickes said core sales were affected by adverse weather which impacted trading in the outdoor category.
Meanwhile trade sales continued to perform well with healthy order book pipelines. However, DIY sales were lower year-on-year.
David Wood, chief executive of Wickes, said: “This has been an encouraging start to the year where we have again seen the benefits of our uniquely balanced business model delivering well in a challenging economic environment.
“Our performance has been underpinned by further momentum in tade, as local traders continue to turn to Wickes to save them time and money, and a strong performance in Do-it-for-me. As we continue to make progress across our strategic growth drivers, we are confident in the Group’s prospects for both the remainder of this year and the long term.”
