Home furnishings retailer Dunelm Group PLC (LSE:DNLM) hit its financial targets in today’s interim results.
Total sales rose by 4.5% to £872 million, up from £835 million in the corresponding period last year.
Growth has been attributed to an increase in active customer numbers by 4.2% and increased market share in both homewares and furniture markets, with a combined gain of 50 basis points.
The retailer has also reported a profit before tax (PBT) increase of 4.8% to £123 million, up from £117 million in the first half of the previous fiscal year thanks to a tight grip on operational costs.
Chief executive Nick Wilkinson commented: "In the past six months, we have kept our customers front of mind, ensuring our broad offer has value at its core whilst also expanding our ranges, introducing new styles, and improving the experience across our store and digital channels.
"This has been particularly important in a more difficult trading environment and has resulted in another strong sales performance combined with market share gains.
“Despite ongoing pressures on consumers, we are encouraged by the wide variety of new customers shopping with Dunelm, and existing shoppers also coming back more frequently.”
The board declared an increased interim ordinary dividend of 16p per share, up from 15p in the first half of 2023.
Dunelm expects full-year PBT to come in line with market expectations of £202 million.
Dunelm shares added 0.4% to 1,089p in opening exchanges.