Like for like sales climb 4.4% at Dunelm

26th February | homeware | Out of town home retailer Dunelm has reported a 4.4% rise in like for like sales in the eight weeks to 21st February. Overall sales in the period, with new stores included, climbed by almost 9%. The homeware retailer’s early year results follow respectable numbers for the second half of 2008.

The company recorded a 5.6% decline in like for like sales with overall sales growing 2.3% to £201.8m. The firm also increased gross margin to 45.9% and pre-tax profits by 0.2% to £27.3m. Dunelm opened three stores in the six month period and expects to open the same number in the next financial year.

Chief executive Will Adderley said, ‘In a significantly declining market for homewares, our first half performance was a satisfactory result and we continued to gain market share. 'Simply value for money' has been Dunelm's philosophy for many years and we believe that is more appealing than ever in today's environment.

‘Despite the recessionary background our recent winter sale was very successful, contributing to strong like-for-like sales growth in the first eight weeks of the second half.’

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