DFS Furniture says it has coped well with tough trading conditions

19 January 2024 , 09:46

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DFS Furniture is sticking to its profit targets (Image: PA Media)

DFS Furniture, the sofa seller, is sticking to its profit targets even though there was a fall in demand in Autumn.

The company said that by cutting costs, they're hoping to keep making money even if they don't sell as much. They think they'll make about £1.02-1.04 billion by next summer, which is a bit less than they thought before. But they still think they'll make a profit of £30-35 million before tax.

Tim Stacey, the boss of DFS, said: "The group has performed well in tough trading conditions. Despite the weaker than expected market, good operational performance and progress on gross margins and lowering our cost base have enabled us to deliver a profit for the first half that is slightly ahead of the prior year and we remain on track to deliver our full-year profit target."

"Looking forward, the group has good growth prospects and is well positioned to drive attractive returns for shareholders, capitalising on market recovery as well as growing our home offering and delivering our 8% profit before tax target.

A company spokesmna said: "We believe this performance was particularly impacted by record hot weather in September and early October when footfall and demand proved to be especially weak." Demand has picked up again, they said, and their profit predictions assume that furniture sales will stay 5% lower in the second half of the financial year. On Friday morning, shares in the company went up by 2%.

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Lawrence Matheson