DFS revenues to fall as furniture market slumps at start of year

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Furniture chain DFS has issued a profit warning after a slump in the market in the early months of this year.

The Doncaster-based company has issued interim results for the last six months of 2024 in which its revenues fell 7.2% to £505.1m. The company’s statutory profits fell to £900,000 but it said that underlying profit – taking out costs relating to a factory closure and a refinancing – had risen slightly to £8.7m.

DFS said the upholstery market had been “more challenging and volatile than expected” with orders falling around 10%, more than the slump it had expected. It said it had grown market share, but that after a solid start to January, market demand had weakened significantly over the last two months, with orders down 16% in January and February.

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In fresh guidance for the company’s financial year, which ends on June 30, DFS said its revenues were expected to be between £1bn and £1.015bn, with profit expectation also lowered. The company said it was closely monitoring the potential impact delays in the Red Sea, which could mean that £4m in profit is pushed back until the next financial year.

Group chief executive officer Tim Stacey said: “I want to thank our colleagues for their dedication toward providing a first class service to our customers. Whilst the current macroeconomic situation has presented many challenges, we are pleased to have extended our market leadership while reporting a resilient profit performance through the first half.

“As a result of weaker market demand we have lowered our FY24 profit guidance to £20-£25m, excluding the potential risk of Red Sea delays which we continue to monitor closely. This reflects revenue guidance reducing by £60-65m, partially mitigated by good progress on our Cost to Operate programme.

“We remain confident in both our long-term growth strategy and the capability to deliver on our objectives. We remain well positioned to improve our profit margins without market recovery and remain confident in delivering our 8% PBT target when the market recovers.”

DFS said it was “well positioned for the future” due to strong customer service scores, controls on costs and increased market share. It said it would be prioritising growth, improved margins and efficiency savings.

Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber

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Governments pledge to ban trail hunting in spotlight as Boxing Day hunts meet

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Labour, which introduced the original ban on hunting with dogs in 2004, pledged in its manifesto this year to ban trail hunting, as part of what it says are measures to “improve animal welfare”. A spokesperson for the Environment Department (Defra) confirmed the Government planned to ban trail hunting, telling the PA news agency: “This government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious animal welfare plans in a generation and that is exactly what we will do. “We are committed to a ban on trail hunting, which is being exploited as a smokescreen to cruelly kill foxes and hares.” The League Against Cruel Sports said figures compiled by its intelligence team found that since the beginning of August, 186 foxes were reported being pursued by hunts and there were 220 reports relating to suspected illegal hunting incidents. 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DFS revenues to fall as furniture market slumps at start of year

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Romantic proposal makes waves at Tenby Boxing Day swim

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