Dunelm reports strong H1 as it appoints Matt Davies to the board

Like-for-likes were up 1.1% in the 26 weeks to December 31, as pretax profit jumped 7.7% to £52.2m.

Turnover grew 8.8% to £299.9m.

The retailer said it has continued to make market share gains as the retailer opened 11 new superstores.

Half its estate has been refitted in the last three years.

Multichannel accounted for 2% of revenues. The retailer launched Reserve & Collect in October and a mobile transactional site in January.

Dunelm chief executive Nick Wharton said: “Dunelm has achieved robust trading results in a very demanding retail environment, and has continued to gain market share on a like for like basis.

“We have also made significant progress on our longer term development plan, not only delivering a very ambitious store opening programme over the last quarter, but also making significant improvements to our on-line offer which have been well received by customers.

“Whilst we remain cautious about the impact of the UK consumer environment on our trading in the near term, we will continue to focus on the disciplined execution of our strategy and will maintain tight operational management.

“With eight further store openings already committed, good momentum in multi-channel and with our “Simply Value for Money” proposition resonating with a wide range of customers, we remain confident in the future growth prospects for the business.”

Dunelm chairman Geoff Cooper said: “I am delighted to welcome Matt to the Board of Dunelm. 

“He was clearly the best candidate from a strong and diverse shortlist of candidates. 

“His knowledge of retail, his demonstrable track record at Pets at Home, as well as his strong financial background, mean that his contribution to the Board will be significant and will go well beyond the role of Audit Committee chair. 

“I very much look forward to his contribution.”