DFS Furniture PLC (LSE:DFS), the living room and furniture retailer, has reported a fall in first half order intake but reiterated its full-year guidance.
Order intake for the half year to 25 December 2022 fell by 4.8% compared to the same period a year earlier, although it was 10.6% higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Current order intake performance remains strong, the company said, with the winter sale period starting well, although DFS stressed that the macroeconomic and consumer outlook remains hard to predict.
As a result, DFS reiterated its guidance for full-year profit before tax and brand amortisation to be £36mln.
"Whilst the macroeconomic environment remains challenging and hard to predict, we reiterate our full-year profit guidance supported by the positive current trading momentum,” said DFS chief executive Tim Stacey in the trading update.
Achieving profit guidance, DFS said, is based on improved momentum carrying on into the new year from the first half, with profit delivery second half weighted.
DFS said second-quarter trading improved after the start of the year, with ordering intake growing by 18.8% compared to the previous year. Gross group sales were, however, down by 1.1% in the half year.