Investor cheer as ‘satisfied’ Dunelm raises its final dividend

Homewares retailer Dunelm yesterday said it was satisfied with its performance for the year in a tough operating environment for non-food retailers.

The company also raised its final dividend by 60 per cent.

The group, which runs more than 100 mostly out-of-town stores, which sell items such as kitchenware, lighting, bedding and rugs, reported a nine per cent increase in total revenue, but like-for-like sales fell by less than one per cent.

“The environment across the year was characterised by new levels of uncertainty, both in consumer behaviour and in the rate of commodity price inflation,” the company said in a statement.

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For the year to July 2, Dunelm reported a nine per cent increase in pre-tax profit to £83.6m ($131.6m) as sales at stores open more than a year grew 8 per cent.

Revenue for the year was £538.5m.

“Despite there being no obvious short term catalyst for significant growth in the homewares market, we are confident in the ability of our ‘Simply Value for Money’ proposition to deliver further growth,” chief executive Nick Wharton said.

He also said: “Our development programme remains strong. The near-term store opening programme is exciting, as are the enhancements we are about to implement to our online proposition.

“These will build on changes already made in the past year which have proved popular with our customers leading to accelerated revenue growth in this chan- nel.

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“Our financial position remains strong, enabling us to propose a significant increase in the dividend.

“The board’s confidence in the future development of the group is reflected in its intention to grow future dividends, from this higher base, in line with earn- ings.”

Dunelm’s ‘Simply Value for Money’ campaign offers products at bargain prices.

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