DFS has said its full-year profits will be below market expectations as uncertainty triggered by the general election has hurt sales.
The big-ticket retailer, which posted rising profits and sales at the half-year market, has said its full-year EBITDA will be in the range of £82m to £87m.
The furniture retailer has said that the anticipated softer trading environment for the second half of the year, highlighted in its March financial update, has since been exacerbated by the “customer uncertainty regarding the general election and the uncertain macroeconomic environment.”
Decline in footfall
The specialist retailer said that footfall has declined beyond its previous expectations, resulting in a slump in customer orders.
Customer demand in the last three months was also hampered by the later falling of Easter and unseasonably warm weather in April and early May.
DFS expected these “short-term demand fluctuations” to have also impacted the wider upholstery market but that it wouldn’t hamper the sector’s long-term growth.
The retailer added that it believed its expectations for the next financial year to be realistic based on consumer confidence and its subsequent impact on demand.
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