Dunelm Group PLC (LSE:DNLM) announced an increased dividend as well as a special payout after a half-year of record profits as sales outperformed the furniture and homeware markets.
An interim dividend of 14p per share was declared, an increase from 12p last time, with a special dividend of 37p also announced, "to return to leverage in line with published capital policy”.
In the 26 weeks ended December 25 2021, the London-listed soft-furnishing retailer posted a 25.3% jump in pre-tax profit of £140.8mln ($190.7mln).
The company cited "very encouraging" store sales for the period, in line with a January forecast, with total sales up 11% to £795.6mln and 36% compared to two years ago. Digital sales made up 33% of total sales in the half.
As a result of higher full-price sales of seasonal ranges, as well as Covid-19 lockdowns affecting margins last year, gross margin increased to 52.8% at the group, which has over 170 stores across the country and is one of the largest homeware retailers in Britain.
Higher full price sales of seasonal lines helped the group's gross margin shoot up by 80 basis points.
The company said its second-half trading, including the recent winter sale, had been positive and they expect pretax profit for fiscal 2022 to match recently upgraded expectations.