Britain's DFS Furniture expects housing market recovery to lift demand (updated)
25/09/2024 08:01
(Recasts paragraph 1, adds CEO comment in paragraph 3, revenue
in paragraph 5, and details throughout)
Sept 25 (Reuters) - British retailer DFS Furniture
DFSD.L posted a 65.7% slump in its annual profit on Wednesday,
but forecast higher demand for its sofas and beds in fiscal 2025
on the back of a gradual recovery in the housing market.
DFS Furniture has been struggling with lacklustre demand due
to weak consumer sentiment, delivery delay and elevated freight
costs amid shipping disruptions in the Red Sea.
"It is clear that the upholstery market has a long road to
recovery given the 20% decline on pre-pandemic levels that we
have seen," CEO Tim Stacy said in a statement.
The company said it remains optimistic about a market
recovery over the course of the year and anticipates the group's
profit to grow in line with market consensus, supported by the
housing market and growing disposable income.
Annual revenue from continuing operations came in at 1.31
billion pounds ($1.76 billion), a nearly 8% fall from a
year-earlier period.
The Doncaster-headquartered company's adjusted pre-tax
profit from continuing operations slumped to 10.5 million pounds
for the year ended June 30, compared with 30.6 million pounds a
year earlier.
($1 = 0.7463 pounds)
(Reporting by DhanushVignesh Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by
Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
((DhanushVignesh.Babu@thomsonreuters.com;))