Wickes Q2 LFL sales up 3%

Wickes Group has announced that its like-for-like sales for the 13 weeks to 1 July were up 3%.

Alongside this the company’s like-for-like sales for the first half of the year were up 0.7% despite the fact that Q1 like-for-like sales were down 1.8%.

The company’s core LFL sales were up 2.3% in Q2, with categories such as decorative and construction performing well and outdoor projects benefiting from good weather.

Within core sales, it said trade sales performed well, reflecting continued healthy order pipelines for local trade professionals.

Furthermore, click and collect sales performed particularly well, growing by 5.6%, reflecting the service improvements.

Wickes’ Do-It-For-Me (DIFM) showroom business saw good LFL sales growth of 5.3% on a
delivered basis.

However, this was a slight decline quarter-on-quarter as the company continues to work through the elevated order book.

David Wood, CEO of Wickes, said: “This has been an encouraging first half where we have again seen the benefits of our uniquely balanced business model delivering well for customers. Our performance has been underpinned by further momentum in Trade, as local traders continue to turn to Wickes to save them time and money, an improving trend in DIY, and a good performance in Do-It-For-Me.

“As we continue to make progress across our strategic growth drivers, we are confident in the Group’s prospects for both the remainder of this year and the longer term. We are also pleased to announce our revised capital allocation policy, which reflects confidence in the company’s strategy and business model. The policy focuses on delivering additional shareholder returns through a maintenance of the FY2023 dividend and the launch of a £25m share buyback programme.”