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Wickes has upgraded its profit guidance to be towards the upper end of the £39.7-£44.0m consensus forecast range following a 3% increase in retail revenues to £579.1m in the second half of 2024.
The group said that retail sales delivered “good” growth in H2, with particularly strong performance in interior paint, decorative accessories and garden projects.
Within Retail, TradePro continued to perform “strongly”, with sales up 14% year-on-year in H2. Meanwhile, the design and installation business “continues to improve” despite a 2.5% decline in revenues to £159.7m, which the group attributed to challenging market conditions.
The retailer also said that active TradePro members have increased by 19% year-on-year to 581,000 but DIY sales remain in “moderate decline” as customers continue to focus on smaller projects.
During the second half of the year, the company opened its fourth store of the year in Leamington Spa as well as refitted two further stores.
David Wood, chief executive of WIckes, said: “Wickes’ differentiated model continues to deliver. We’ve grown sales and volumes in Retail, and TradePro had yet another period of double-digit sales growth, as local tradespeople continue to choose us to save them time and money. Meanwhile, measures we took to improve our offer in design and installation have enabled us to return to ordered sales growth.
“We expect to deliver FY24 profit towards the upper end of the forecast range and looking to the year ahead we are well positioned to outperform the market as we continue to invest in our strategic growth levers.”
