(Alliance News) - DFS Furniture PLC on Wednesday credited booming orders for accelerating trading momentum as the furniture retailer reiterated previous profit guidance.
Order intake over the first half that ended in December was materially ahead of the 2019 pre-pandemic comparative period but was lower than the exceptional trading seen last year.
Gross sales climbed 10% on the 2019 comparator with delivery throughput accelerating across the half, DFS noted.
The company's order bank remained strong going into the second half, around GBP200 million higher than pre-pandemic levels on a revenue basis. The order bank combined with current trading momentum is expected to generate "incremental profits" in financial year 2023, DFS added.
Shares were up 5.0% to 254.08 pence in London on Wednesday.
Despite the positive results, DFS said pretax profit expectations financial 2022, which ends in June, remain unchanged. Manufacturing and logistics disruption remains a risk going forward, the retailer added, although accelerated deliveries in the second quarter provided confidence. The promising post-Christmas trading run gave the company additional reassurances.
"While the market remains hard to predict, we believe our scale, brand strength and integrated retail strategy will allow us to drive market share gains ahead of the competition," commented Chief Executive Tim Stacey.
"Looking ahead we will continue to invest in our digital platforms and our showrooms, our delivery network, our UK manufacturing capacity, and with expansion into other home categories, we are well positioned to succeed."
Interim results will be announced March 15.
By Will Paige; willpaige@alliancenews.com
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Dfs Furn (DFS)