Furnishings and homeware retailer Dunelm has reported a growth in fourth quarter and full year sales.
According to its latest trading update for the 13-week period ended 29 June 2024 and for the full year, Q4 sales rose 5% to £399m, while full year revenues increased 4% to £1.7bn.
Dunelm said that the sales uptick continued to be driven by increased volumes, with both store and digital channels, with digital participation up 1ppt to 40% in Q4, delivering growth.
“We remain focussed on offering outstanding value and quality to our customers, and believe that we have continued to gain market share against a backdrop of ongoing macro volatility and subdued consumer sentiment,” the retailer said.
“We had a good summer sale period in June, with customers finding the attractive offers they were looking for, as well as buying full priced lines, and responding well to our new products.
“Aside from outdoor furniture, which saw softer sales due to the extended period of cooler weather, sales growth was fairly consistent across our categories in the quarter, demonstrating our broad customer appeal and the relevance of our product ranges.”
Dunelm added that it expects pre-tax profit to be slightly ahead of market expectations for FY24, at £200m. This performance reflects its ‘inherent resilience and agility’ in another challenging year.
In the quarter Dunelm opened a new store in Brighton and relocated its Edinburgh store to a better site, taking its total store openings to six for the full year. The new stores were a mixture of superstores and smaller format stores, and are showing encouraging early performances.
The retailer has continued to invest in its digital platform, further developing and enhancing the customer experience. Improvements in the quarter included introducing ‘back in stock’ notifications and increasing the number of products available for Click & Collect.
Further development of its operational capability was also achieved, opening a new depot in Barnsley, replacing its existing facility with additional capacity to better serve its Home Delivery Network.
Nick Wilkinson, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We delivered another strong performance in Q4, with continued volume-driven sales growth across both store and digital channels. Amidst ongoing consumer caution, our unrelenting focus on value and choice means the Dunelm proposition has continued to resonate with customers, and we saw both full-priced and discounted lines trade well during our summer sale period.
“Throughout the year, we grew sales and continued to exercise tight cost control in an environment of high inflation. Our strong gross margin performance means we now expect our FY24 profit before tax to be slightly ahead of expectations.
“Going into FY25, we have a significant opportunity ahead of us. We are finding quality sites for new stores, and are increasingly confident in our smaller format stores. We are also continuing to invest in both our digital offer and wider operations to support further market share gains. However, we will need to maintain strong operational grip given ongoing wage inflation. Notwithstanding the continuing uncertainty in our markets, we’re both excited and confident in our plans.”
