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(Alliance News) - Dunelm Group PLC on Thursday announced that annual sales increased, while profit is on-track to beat market forecasts.
For the financial year ended June 25, sales rose 16% to GBP1.55 billion from GBP1.34 billion the year before. This was despite a fourth-quarter decline of 6.0% year-on-year to GBP357.5 million from GBP380.2 million.
The Leicester-based home furnishings retailer said about its fourth quarter: "Strong sales in the comparative period were driven by pent-up demand after the re-opening of our stores in April 2021, following the third national lockdown."
Annual pretax profit is expected to be higher than analyst consensus of GBP207 million, Dunelm predicted. A figure of GBP207 million will be 31% higher than the GBP157.8 million achieved in the prior year.
"Whilst Dunelm is not immune to the impacts of inflationary pressures on the consumer, we have demonstrated resilience in tougher conditions. We have a strong operational grip across the business, and a track record of learning and adapting to changing environments, historically emerging stronger following periods of consumer uncertainty," the company said.
"Dunelm is a much bigger and stronger business than before the pandemic, with sales over 40% higher, due in large part to the huge strides we have made to develop our digital capabilities. Our growth continues to be driven by increasing market share as our customer base further expands," commented Chief Executive Officer Nick Wilkinson.
In addition, Dunelm said it has picked Whitbread PLC's Chief Executive Officer Alison Brittain to become chair of the home furnishing retailer's board. She will join Dunelm's board on September 7 and will succeed current chair Andy Harrison "comfortably in advance" of the end of his nine-year term in September 2023.
Late last month, Bedfordshire-based hospitality firm Whitbread announced that Brittain will retire after seven years as CEO of the Premier Inn chain owner, to be replaced in early 2023 by Dominic Paul, currently CEO of Domino's Pizza Group PLC.
Dunelm shares were 3.1% higher at 851.79 pence each in London on Thursday morning, while Whitbread shares fell 0.8% to 2,674.00 pence each.
By Tom Budszus; tombudszus@alliancenews.com
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