LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Dunelm Group plc (DNLM.L), a homewares retailer, reported Wednesday that its fourth-quarter sales were 188.5 million pounds, down 28.6 percent from last year's 264.1 million pounds. Total like-for-like or LFL sales declined 29 percent.
For fiscal 2020, sales were 1.06 billion pounds, a 3.9 percent reduction on the prior year. The company said it expects full-year profit before tax to be in the range of 105 million pounds to 110 million pounds, down from last year's 125.9 million pounds.
In its fourth-quarter trading update, the company said its LFL stores sales declined 53 percent, while LFL online sales surged 105.6 percent.
Total sales for the 10 weeks to March 7 grew 7.9 percent, while total sales for the last 16 weeks, from March 8 to June 27, declined 29.0 percent, with store LFL sales down 49.7 percent and online growth of 85.2 percent.
The company had closed both stores and online on March 24 amid Covid-19 pandemic, and over the last three months have gradually re-opened almost all of its operations in a phased and controlled manner. The company expects to open Pausa cafés towards the end of July.
Looking ahead, Dunelm said, 'Whilst the homewares market has proven to be relatively resilient, we continue to take a cautious view of the short to medium term outlook given the ongoing uncertainty around Covid-19. We will monitor consumer trends over the summer and, where possible, provide further guidance for FY21 at our full year results in September. In addition to demand uncertainty, FY21 will be impacted by cost headwinds directly related to the impact of the virus.'
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