DFS is ‘confident’ of its full-year profit despite the wet weather earlier in the year hitting footfall.
‘Since the half year we have seen some softening in footfall linked to adverse weather conditions over the period and consumer confidence remains delicately balanced. We remain focused on executing our strategy and in combination with our disciplined approach to gross margin and cost management we are comfortable reiterating our guidance of full year PBTu(A) in the range of £43m-£50m,’ its says.
‘This assumes no material supply chain disruption resulting from current geo-political events impacting the timing of delivery of customer orders.’
‘The group delivered a strong operational and financial performance in H1 FY26 [to 28 December], reflecting the continued execution of our strategic priorities and the inherent strength of our vertically integrated business model. In a broadly flat market, we delivered order intake growth of 2.3% year on year, with solid contributions from both retail brands and double-digit growth in our non-upholstery home category,’ says Tim Stacey, DFS Group ceo.
‘The upholstery market remained subdued over the first half, with consumer confidence and discretionary spending influenced by broader macroeconomic uncertainty. Despite this backdrop, financial performance in the period was robust, with underlying profit before tax and brand amortisation of £30.9m, representing a significant £13.9m improvement on the prior year. Cash generation was also strong, delivering on a key focus area of reducing debt, and bringing leverage back within our target range (0.5x-1.0x). In addition, our operational performance goes from strength to strength with record net promoter scores achieved in the period.
‘The transition to more integrated group functions over recent years has enhanced our operational advantages, enabling us to better leverage our scale, data and skills across the group and operate more efficiently. While we have made significant progress on this journey, there remains further opportunity ahead.
‘Our improved financial performance and stronger balance sheet enables us to better leverage our retail brand pillars and our operating platforms to maximise our growth opportunities, giving us confidence in meeting our medium term targets of £1.4bn revenue and 8% PBT margin.’
