Dunelm notches up sales growth on top of last year’s lockdown boost
Homewares chain Dunelm has said it notched up sales growth in its first quarter on top of last year’s post-lockdown boost, but flagged ongoing challenges with supply chain issues.
The group reported an 8.3 per cent increase in sales in the 13 weeks to September 25 compared to the same period a year ago, when sales soared by 36.7 per cent thanks to pent-up demand following the initial Covid-19 lockdown.
On a two-year basis, sales lifted 48 per cent in its most recent quarter.
Dunelm cautioned over an “uncertain” outlook, clouded by the UK and global supply chain disruption and rising costs due to freight and driver shortages, but stuck to its recently upgraded profit guidance.
It added it was weathering the storm thanks to good stock levels and with customers able to switch products if availability of certain lines are impacted.
Dunelm said: “The macro outlook remains uncertain, in particular regarding supply chain disruption and inflationary pressures from freight and driver shortages.”
It added: “Whilst we are not immune to the challenges being widely reported, we feel well placed relatively to manage them.
“In particular, we have good stock levels across our stores, warehouses and supplier partners, a low proportion of seasonal ranges within our product offer, and also benefit from a higher propensity for customers to substitute products within homewares categories, given our broad range.”