Dunelm Group has published a trading update for the 13-week period ended 28th June 2025, and for the full year. Its Q4 sales, which included the retailer's summer sale, were up +4.0% YoY at £415m, with digital participation at 42% (up 2ppts YoY). The retailer reports full-year sales of £1771m (up +3.8%), and expects its full-year gross margin to be up 60bps YoY, reflecting its "strong commercial and operational grip". FY25 PBT is expected to be in line with consensus (£210m).
The quarter saw Dunelm make good progress, investing in new superstore openings in Trowbridge, Manchester and Southend, and the relocation of the Peterborough store, and completing the acquisition of the Designers Guild brand and archive. Clo Moriarty was appointed CEO (with effect from 1st October).
"Across our categories, furniture has continued to perform particularly strongly," the retailer reports. "Our outdoor furniture and decorative outdoor accessories sold very well, especially in the warmer periods at the start and end of the quarter, when there was less demand for some of our warmer-weather textiles products.
"Whilst we are yet to see sustained recovery in consumer confidence, our customers continue to respond to the relevance of our product offer and our fast and convenient channels."
"Our strong digital performance in the final quarter reflects the aggregate impact of improvements made throughout the year to our customers’ digital experience. The introduction of AI-powered search, recommendations and browse is driving increasingly personalised experiences, alongside a more convenient shopping experience through the expansion and optimisation of our Click & Collect proposition."
CEO Nick Wilkinson comments: “We’ve had a good final quarter with continued growth and further strategic progress. Customers responded well to offers across our categories in our summer sale, and we saw strong demand for our Summer Living ranges, particularly as customers focused on their outdoor spaces during the warmer weather.
“We opened four new superstores in the final quarter alone, and our acquisition of the Designers Guild brand and archive presents an exciting opportunity to introduce new, iconic designs to our customers. These strategic developments conclude a year marked by a number of ‘firsts’, including: international expansion into Ireland; deploying AI to improve our website experience; and opening our first inner London store at Westfield White City.
“Amidst muted consumer confidence, we are not standing still waiting for a recovery. We are instead focused on delivering relevance to our customers, to help build greater trust in the quality, value and breadth of our offer, harnessing our unique strengths as a multi-category specialist. As we progress our ambitions to gain further market share, we remain confident in our ability to unlock our full potential as the Home of Homes.”
