REG - DFS Furniture PLC - Trading Statement

DFS FurnitureAnnouncement

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RNS Number : 4942P  DFS Furniture PLC  20 January 2026

20 January 2026

 

Immediate release

 

DFS Furniture plc ("DFS" and the "Group")

 

Trading Update

 

Strategic execution driving strong profit growth and cash flow

 

Full year profit expected to be ahead of current market consensus

 

DFS Furniture plc, the market leading retailer of upholstered furniture in the
United Kingdom, today announces a trading update for the 26 week financial
reporting period ended 28 December 2025, together with an update on recent
trading.

 

Summary:

●  Strong financial performance reflects our market leading customer
proposition, strong gross margin progression, continued cost discipline and
the benefits of operating leverage.

●    H1 Group PBTu(A)(1) expected to be £30-31m, up +£13 to +£14m year
on year.

●   Group order intake during the period was up +2.3% year on year, with
both DFS and Sofology brands achieving growth, against strong comparatives and
in a broadly flat market.

●   Gross sales recognised on delivery of orders to customers, are expected
to be up +c8.7% year on year driven by the conversion to delivered orders of
the elevated opening order bank as previously guided and the continued
positive order intake performance.

●   Strong free cash flow generation during the period resulted in net bank
debt reducing from £107m at full year 2025 to c£60-61m at 28 December, with
leverage(2) improving from 1.4x to 0.8x on a reported basis (1.0x adjusting
for phasing of working capital) within our target range of 0.5x-1.0x.

 

Recent trading and outlook:

●    The important Winter sale trading period has started in line with
our expectations.

●    Whilst the macroeconomic and consumer outlook remains hard to
predict, as a result of the strong first half performance and our trading
performance through the second half to date we now expect full year PBTu(A) to
be between £43-50m, ahead of current consensus of £41m.

 

The Group will announce its interim results for the period ended 28 December
2025 on 19 March 2026.

 

New Chief Financial Officer appointed:

We are pleased to announce that Dominique Highfield will be joining the Group
in May 2026 as our permanent CFO. Dominique is currently CFO at Bloom and
Wild, and previously held senior finance and operational roles at
Purplebricks, Pentland and Amazon. She has an excellent pedigree both in
working with successful consumer brands and in supporting sustainable
growth.  We look forward to welcoming and working with Dominique.

 

We would like to thank Marie Wall for her incredible support, contribution and
impact throughout her time with the Group as interim CFO. She leaves DFS
really well placed to capitalise on the opportunities we have ahead. The Board
will work on a transition plan in the coming months to ensure a smooth and
effective handover.  We wish Marie every success in her future endeavours.

 

Comment from Tim Stacey, Group Chief Executive

"Our three key enablers of scale and vertical integration, utilising data and
harnessing our unique culture are strengthening our market leading proposition
and driving order intake across both DFS and Sofology in a broadly flat
market. We have continued to make good progress growing our gross margins and
managing our cost base effectively. As a result, I am pleased to report an
upgrade to our full year profit expectations following a strong first half
performance.

 

I am confident that the business is well positioned to continue delivering
against our strategy and we remain committed to achieving our medium term
targets of £1.4bn revenue and 8% PBT margin and delivering attractive returns
for our shareholders as the market recovers"

 

(1) PBTu(A): Underlying profit before tax and brand amortisation

(2) Banking covenant IAS17 leverage definition

 

Enquiries:

 

DFS (enquiries via Teneo)

Tim Stacey (Group CEO)

Marie Wall (Interim CFO)

Phil Hutchinson (Investor Relations)

investor.relations@dfs.co.uk

 

Teneo

James Macey-White

Jessica Reid

+44 (0)20 7353 4200

85fs.dfs@teneo.com

 

About DFS Furniture plc

 

The Group is the clear market-leading retailer of upholstered furniture in the
United Kingdom. Our Group purpose is to bring great design and comfort into
every living room, in an affordable, responsible and sustainable manner. We
operate an integrated physical and digital retail network of living room
furniture showrooms and web sites in the United Kingdom and Republic of
Ireland, trading through our leading brands, DFS and Sofology. We attract
customers through our targeted and national marketing activities and our
reputation for high quality innovative products and services, breadth of
product offer and favourable consumer financing options. We fulfil orders for
our exclusive product ranges through our own UK finished goods factories, and
through manufacturing partners located in the UK, Europe and Far East, and
delivered with care through our expert final-mile delivery service "The Sofa
Delivery Company Limited".

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