Management at Dunelm say they are “consistently” outperforming the homewares and furniture market as they posted strong figures for the last half year.
The business, which says it is the “UK's leading homewares retailer”, said it had benefited in recent months from customers sprucing up their homes during the pandemic.
It reported record pre-tax profits for the second half of 2021 at £140.8 million – more than 25 per cent up on a year earlier.
That was on the back of sales that were up more than 10 per cent at almost £800 million, with online sales now accounting for a third of trading.
Despite the positive figures the Leicestershire-headquartered retailer, which has 175 mainly out-of-town superstores, warned that the economic backdrop remained “uncertain”.
The home furnishings retailer said trading in 2022 so far had been “encouraging” as it shrugged off the potential impact of the spread of the Omicron variant.
The group said it was on track to meet profit guidance which it lifted last month following strong festive sales.
Dunelm stressed that the wider economic outlook remained uncertain but added that it was well-positioned to navigate inflationary pressures amid soaring costs for retailers.
It said the fact it sells “largely own brand product” and strong supplier links will help shelter it somewhat from major headwinds.
Sales since the start of the year have remained “consistent” with the last six months of 2021, the company added, despite pressure from the spread of Omicron and the cost of living crisis.
Total online sales more than doubled over the period and the company also hailed “very encouraging” store sales as customers returned to physical shops.
Chief executive Nick Wilkinson said: “When we announced our interim results in 2020, we were weeks away from the world being turned upside down.
“Two years later, we are moving forwards as a bigger, better business, with more capability, more resilience, more ambition, and delivering accelerated growth.
“Together we have navigated another period filled with significant and evolving external challenges and delivered a very strong performance in the first half, with continued growth in customer numbers, further market share gains, record sales and particularly strong profitability.”
In its interim results for the half year the business said recent analysis showed it "consistently outperformed the market throughout the half in both homewares and furniture, and that we have therefore continued to gain market share".
