Trading Statement
Dunelm Group plc
10 July 2007
10 July 2007
DUNELM GROUP PLC
TRADING UPDATE
Following the end of its financial year on 30 June 2007, Dunelm Group plc
("Dunelm" or the "Company"), the specialist homewares retailer, today makes the
following comments on trading.
Trading performance
The Board is pleased to confirm strong sales growth for the 52 weeks to 30 June
2007:
Total sales: £354.7m (2006: £315.2m)
Total sales growth: + 12.5%
Like for like sales growth: + 6.1%
These figures reflect LFL growth of +4.7% in Q3 and +10.1% in Q4 of the
Company's financial year.
Like for like sales growth during the latter weeks of the financial year was
particularly strong, reflecting soft comparatives due to hot weather and the
World Cup in 2006.
Buying margin has remained solid over the second half and operating costs have
been well controlled. As a result, the Board now anticipates that underlying
operating profit will be at the upper end of its previous expectations.
Store portfolio
The Company's store expansion programme continues. During the year, new
superstores were opened in Stevenage, Colchester, Perth and Bradford and the
superstore in Swansea was relocated to a larger unit. At the period end, the
Company's out of town superstore portfolio comprised 68 units.
As of today, contracts have been exchanged for a further 5 superstore units
which are expected to commence trading in the 2007/8 financial year. These
include the acquisition of a freehold unit in Leeds. A number of other
opportunities are being actively pursued and overall the new store pipeline is
significantly stronger than at the equivalent time last year.
Whilst expanding the superstore chain, the Company has also taken the
opportunity to exit three smaller high street locations since Christmas. In each
case the lease had expired and a superstore had already been opened serving the
same catchment area.
Infrastructure
The Company has completed the transition to a new central warehouse facility in
Stoke. Non-recurring costs arising from this transition totalled approximately
£1.3m, of which £1.0m was already accounted for in the first half. The disposal
of the former warehouse at Burton-on-Trent was also completed as expected in
June, yielding a profit against book value of £1.1m.
Will Adderley, Chief Executive of Dunelm, commented:
"I am very pleased with our progress since IPO. We are very serious about
delivering what we promise, whether it's to our customers or our shareholders,
and I think we have done that over the last year.
"Looking ahead, we still have significant opportunity to grow through opening
more stores and we are as excited as ever about that. However, we also have to
be realistic about the state of consumer demand in light of recent interest rate
rises. We expect that growth in existing stores will be harder to come by over
the next few months."
A store and warehouse visit for analysts will take place on 11 July 2007. No
material new information will be disclosed.
Dunelm will make its preliminary results announcement on 19 September 2007.
There will be a presentation for analysts at 9.30am in the offices of UBS, 1
Finsbury Avenue, London EC2M 2PP. Those analysts who wish to attend are
requested to contact Natasha Jobling of Hogarth Partnership at the number below.
A copy of the presentation will be made available on the Company's website.
- Ends -
For further information please contact:
Dunelm Group plc 0116 2644 356
Will Adderley, Chief Executive
David Stead, Finance Director
Hogarth Partnership 020 7357 9477
John Olsen / Fiona Noblet
Notes to editors
Dunelm is one of the top 10 retailers operating in the circa £12bn UK homewares
market. As at 30 June 2007 the Group had 82 stores in total, all branded Dunelm
Mill, of which 68 were out-of-town superstores. The majority of the stores are
located in the Midlands or north-west of England. Dunelm employs over 5,000 full
and part time staff, the vast majority of whom work in the stores.
Dunelm was founded in 1979 as a market stall business, selling ready-made
curtains. The first shop was opened in Leicester in 1984 and over the following
years the business developed into a successful chain of high street shops in the
Midlands specialising in soft furnishings. The first Dunelm superstore was
opened in 1991, leading to the Company's move into the broader homewares market.
The superstores provide an average of 28,000 sq ft of selling space and offer an
extensive range, typically over 18,000 products across a broad spectrum of
categories including bedding, curtains, gifts and seasonal items, cushions,
bathroom products, kitchenware, quilts, pillows and rugs. Dunelm also
specialises in offering a wide range of fabrics, made to measure curtains and a
frequently changing series of special buys. The directors are passionate about
ensuring that all ranges live up to Dunelm's philosophy of offering customers
"Simply Value for Money".
Dunelm listed on the London Stock Exchange in October 2006 (DNLM.L).
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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