Dunelm comps fall in Q3 as homewares market dips, but total and e-sales rise

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Apr 12, 2017

“The homewares market remains in decline.” That was the opening statement  from value-focused homewares retailer Dunelm on Wednesday as it delivered its Q3 update.

And with an opener like that, it was hardly surprising that the company said the 13 weeks to April saw comparable sales falling 2.2%.

But against he backdrop of a declining market, a drop of around 2% was a lot better than it might have been and there were plenty of positive notes in Dunelm’s update.

The company said it is “continuing to outperform the market and the margin of over-performance has increased.”
Total revenue managed to rise 11.4% to £255.1 million, but with the Worldstores outlets that it acquired last November taken out of the equation, it rose by only 1% to £231.3m.

With Easter being later this year, the retailer expects around 1.5% of comparable sales to move from the third to the fourth quarter so Q4 should get a boost.

The company said it continues to see strong growth in its online business, including a 21% increase in home delivery sales for the quarter, and also that its margin improved at both its core Dunelm store and at Worldstores. However, while this margin improvement will continue into Q4, it should flatten out in the next financial year.

It added that the integration of Worldstores is “going well” and said “performance continues to stabilise following the acquisition and is in line with expectations. We continue to expect that the business will be at least break-even in Dunelm's financial year ending 30 June 2018.”

The company sees Worldstores as offering major potential to increase its internet operation and enhance its position as “the destination homewares retailer in the UK, both online and offline.”