- Dunelm reports an 11.8% growth in second-quarter sales.
- The retailer forecasts £112 million of pre-tax profit in fiscal H1.
- Dunelm refrained from giving its guidance for the second half.
Dunelm Group plc (LON: DNLM) said on Thursday that sales remained strong in the Christmas period resulting in an 11.8% annualised growth in the fiscal second quarter as a whole. The company, however, acknowledged that impact of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and said that the related uncertainty makes it difficult to say with confidence when it will be able to reopen its stores for the public.
Dunelm was reported more than 2% down in premarket trading on Thursday and lost another 5% on market open. At £12 per share, the stock has recovered roughly 80% since the last week of March 2020, when the COVID-19 restrictions were at their peak. Learn more about how to pick winning stocks.
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Dunelm forecasts £112 million of pre-tax profit in H1
The COVID-19 crisis has so far infected more than 3.2 million people in the United Kingdom and caused a little under 85 thousand deaths. For the fiscal first half, the home furnishings retailer now expects roughly £112 million of pre-tax profit versus the year-ago figure of a much lower £83.6 million. Dunelm, however, refrained from giving its guidance for fiscal H2.
In separate news from the United Kingdom, Whitbread plc said on Thursday that it slashed its workforce by 1,500 jobs versus 6 thousand expected earlier.
According to Dunelm, its entire network of 174 countrywide stores is still closed for the public to minimise the fast-spread of the novel flu-like virus. Except for five of its stores, the remaining, it added, are offering click and collect services. As per Dunelm, its home delivery services are catering to its customers as normal amidst the ongoing pandemic.
CEO Nick Wilkinson’s comments on Thursday
CEO Nick Wilkinson of Dunelm said on Thursday:
“We enter 2021 with further restrictions, and our primary focus remains the health and wellbeing of our colleagues and customers across the business.”
The Syston-based company refrained from tapping into government support to retain employees. The current level of operation, Dunelm said on Thursday, will result in a modest weekly loss. In fiscal 2020, the British company had recorded £109 million of pre-tax profit, as per the report published in September.
Dunelm performed only slightly upbeat in the stock market last month with an annual gain of more than 5%. At the time of writing, the British firm is valued at £2.43 billion and has a price to earnings ratio of 27.99.
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