Dunelm lifts guidance as FY profits rise, dividend reinstated
Homewares retailer Dunelm said 2022 full-year profits would be “modestly” ahead of expectations as it posted a strong rise in 2021 earnings, driven by online sales during the Covid pandemic, and announced a special dividend.
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Pre-tax profit for the year to June 26 rose 44.6% to £157.8m on a 26.3% rise in sales to £1.33bn. Online revenue made up 46% of the total figure, up 19 percentage points. Dividends were reinstated with the announcement of a 65p a share payout.
The company on Wednesday added that it was seeing some industry-wide issues such as ongoing supply chain disruption and inflationary pressures from raw materials, freight costs and driver shortages.
"Trading in the first 10 weeks of the new financial year has been encouraging, with growth against strong comparatives and continued market outperformance," said chief executive Nick Wilkinson.
He said the company had delivered an "excellent performance ... despite our stores being closed for more than a third of the year".
"The digital investments we had made enabled us to rapidly adapt to the changing environment and deliver strong growth and an improved customer experience."
"We are emerging from the pandemic as a stronger and better business, having transitioned from being a physical retailer with digital aspirations to being a proven, digital first, multichannel retailer."