DFS sales slide amid ‘challenging’ conditions

DFS has announced that its group revenue fell by 5.7% to £488m in the half-year period ended 29 December 2019.

The furniture retailer said that such results were “as expected” against a “strong” comparative period, however, which was bolstered by “latent demand” and a higher opening order book.

Meanwhile, gross sales fell by 5.8% in the period, while underlying profit-before-tax was down by 17.5% to £20.5m.

DFS said that its year-on-year performance was affected by “challenging” market conditions, with footfall impacted by poor consumer confidence and political uncertainty during the period. 

Looking forward, the group also said that Coronavirus “uncertainty” will prohibit the group from posting an accurate full-year guidance.   

Tim Stacey, group CEO, said: “We continue to make progress on our strategic agenda focused on driving the DFS core business, further developing our group platforms and setting Sofology up for future growth. 

“Despite the challenging retail environment, our performance over the first half has been as expected, given the exceptional prior year comparative driven by latent demand.”

He added: “However, given the uncertainty as to how the current COVID-19 situation will develop, it is not possible to give guidance with any certainty for the full-year out-turn. 

“At present we believe our supply chain position should normalise before the financial year end, and it is only in very recent days that we have observed any change in consumer footfall to our showrooms.”