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DFS has maintained its profit guidance for the full-year following a strong start to its winter trading period.
In the half-year ended 25 December 2022, order intake rose by 10.6% against the pre-pandemic period in FY19, with a “strong” second quarter that was boosted by market share gains.
Overall, gross sales were up by 9.6% on the FY19 comparator period, and down only 1.1% on FY22.
The sofa retailer said its current order intake performance has remained strong into the second half of the year, with the winter sale trading period off to a strong start.
In light of the strong winter trading, and despite the uncertain macroeconomic and consumer outlook, it has reiterated its guidance of £36m profit-before-tax and brand amortisation, with the range of £30m-£40m.
This assumes the improved momentum it has seen in order intake continues through the second half, alongside delivery of planned margin improvements and normalisation of the order bank, which remains elevated at the end of the first half due to the weighting of order intake.
Tim Stacey, CEO, said: “The group has traded well through the second quarter and the start of the important winter sale trading period. Whilst the macroeconomic environment remains challenging and hard to predict, we reiterate our full year profit guidance supported by the positive current trading momentum.
“As always, we continue to invest for the long term success of the business, to further strengthen our market leading position and with our established platforms, scale and expertise we believe we are well set up for growth over the medium term.”
