Dunelm eyes higher profit as sales improve

Homewares retailer Dunelm today told investors that it expects to deliver a rise in annual profits of more than 7 per cent following an acceleration in its sales growth.

In a trading update, the group reported total sales of £730.2 million for the year to 28 June, up 7.8 per cent on a year ago and boosted by the opening of 12 stores. It now has 143 stores, the bulk of which are out of town.

Like-for-like sales, which strip out the effect of new selling space, grew 5.5 per cent in the final three months, compared with 5.3 per cent at the half-year stage.

As a result, Dunelm expects to report a full-year pre-tax profit of about £116m on 11 September, up from £108.1m a year ago.

Chief executive Nick Wharton said: “With a strong pipeline of new stores, further enhancements to our multi-channel capability and a positive response to the continuing development of our customer proposition, the board remains confident in the group’s long-term growth prospects.”