Dunelm has posted sales of £1.1 billion for the year to June 30th 2018, up by 9.9 per cent like-for-like, with pre-tax profits of £93 million. The business admits it has had to absorb costs connected with its acquisition of Worldstores but that the acquired business is now fully integrated and no longer trades as a standalone entity. The Worldstores acquisition has provided the retailer with technology and digital development capabilities which it has applied to its whole business borne out by its improved online trading results.
During the year online sales rose by 37.9 per cent and online sales now represent 13.5 per cent of total sales. Dunelm had also opened ten new superstores, including one relocation, and completed six store re-fits.
Commenting on the results, Dunelm CEO Nick Wilkinson said: “The UK retail environment remains challenging, but against this difficult background we have traded in line with expectations during the current financial year to date.” He also said: “The Worldstores acquisition has given us the key ingredients for a step change in our digital capabilities. We are preparing to launch Dunelm.com on our new proprietary technology to give us much greater agility in improving our customer proposition. This is a new and exciting chapter for Dunelm as we fully embrace digital retailing.”
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