REG - Wickes Group PLC - Trading Update

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RNS Number : 3466I  Wickes Group PLC  13 May 2025

 

13 May 2025

 

Wickes Group plc - Trading Update for the 17 weeks to 26 April 2025

 

Strong start to 2025 with acceleration in Retail performance and

continued growth in D&I ordered sales

Comfortable with market forecasts for 2025 adjusted PBT

 

The start of 2025 has seen good growth momentum across the business. In the
first 17 weeks of 2025 overall Group revenue increased in the period by 6.9%
year on year.  Wickes delivered strong volume-led sales growth in Retail(1)
with revenue up 9.6%.  In Design & Installation, another quarter of
ordered sales growth plus the contribution from Solar Fast have resulted in
Design & Installation delivered revenue improving to broadly flat
year-on-year.

 

                                                   17 weeks to 26 April 2025(1)
 Retail(2)                     Revenue             £396.7m
                               Revenue growth      9.6%
                               LFL revenue growth  9.2%
 Design & Installation(3)      Revenue             £136.4m
                               Revenue growth      (0.4)%
                               LFL revenue growth  (4.2)%
 Group                         Revenue             £533.1m

                               Revenue growth      6.9%
                               LFL revenue growth  5.5%

 

Retail sales delivered strong growth in the period, demonstrating the
continued success of Wickes' great value and service-led proposition.  We
increased market share further, with particularly strong performance in
building, garden and decorating categories.  This sales performance was again
driven by volume growth, with deflation close to zero in the period.

 

Within Retail, TradePro continues to perform strongly, with sales up 13%
year-on-year, as local trade professionals continue to choose Wickes to save
them time and money.  Active TradePro members(4) have increased by 14%
year-on-year to 605,000.  DIY sales were also in year-on-year growth, driven
by volume, as a result of an increase in customer transactions.

 

We have been well positioned to benefit from the warmer weather at the start
of this year, which has supported the strong sales performance in Retail.
For example, in the week of the early May bank holiday we had our biggest ever
week for sales of compost and top soil.

 

The positive momentum within Design & Installation sales has continued.
We have achieved another consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth in ordered
sales(5), following a number of actions taken during 2024 to improve our
customer offer and experience.  As expected, delivered sales(6) (which lag
ordered sales by a few months) were broadly flat in the first 17 weeks of
2025.

 

Investment in our strategic growth levers continues, with work underway to
convert four former Homebase stores as part of our plan to open 5-7 new stores
in 2025.  We have refitted three further stores in the period and c.80% of
the store estate is in the new format.  In 2025 we will step up the level of
investment in technology to enhance the customer experience further and to
support productivity initiatives, positioning us for profitable growth in the
next few years.

 

The actions we have taken to invest in our growth levers and productivity
programme have set us up well for a successful 2025.  Whilst the consumer
outlook remains uncertain and the business faces significant cost headwinds,
we have made a good start to the year and remain comfortable with current
consensus expectations(7) for adjusted PBT in 2025.

 

We expect to report H1 trading in late July.

 

 

David Wood, Chief Executive of Wickes, commented:

 

"This has been a strong start to the new financial year, with the further
increase in sales driven exclusively by volume growth, as more customers shop
with us.

 

"Within Retail, we have gone from strength to strength. We have taken further
market share and seen a very good market outperformance in timber, hardware,
decor and garden.

 

"In Design & Installation, we are benefitting from the actions taken to
enhance the Wickes offer. This is a segment demonstrating real momentum, with
a second quarter in a row of ordered sales growth.

 

"While we continue to be mindful of consumer sentiment and a challenging
external environment, we have a strong platform in place and we are well set
to continue delivering against our strategy."

 

 

Enquiries

 Investors and Analysts                                             Media

 Holly Grainger                                                     Lucy Legh, Will Smith, Eleanor Evans

 Director of Investor Relations                                     PR Advisers to Wickes

 +44 (0)7341 680426                                                 +44 (0)203 805 4822

 holly.grainger@wickes.co.uk (mailto:holly.grainger@wickes.co.uk)   wickes@headlandconsultancy.com (mailto:wickes@headlandconsultancy.com)

 

 

About Wickes

 

Wickes is a digitally-led, service-enabled home improvement retailer,
delivering choice, convenience, value and best-in-class service to customers
across the United Kingdom, making it well placed to outperform its growing
markets. In response to gradual structural shifts in its markets over recent
years, Wickes has a balanced business focusing on three key customer journeys
- TradePro, DIY (together reported as Retail) and our project-based Design
& Installation division.

 

Wickes operates from its network of 228 right-sized stores, which support
nationwide fulfilment from convenient locations throughout the United Kingdom,
and through its digital channels including its website, TradePro mobile app
for trade members, and Wickes DIY app. These digital channels allow customers
to research and order an extended range of Wickes products and services,
arrange virtual and in-person design consultations, and organise convenient
Home Delivery or Click-and-Collect.

 

 

Footnotes

 

1) The Group has elected to classify delivery income within revenue, having
previously been recognised in cost of sales. £1.9m of delivery income has
been reclassified from cost of sales to revenue for the 17 weeks ended 27
April 2024. The reclassification has been applied to the comparative period
for the purposes of calculating the revenue growth and LFL revenue growth
percentages disclosed here. There is no impact on any profit measures, nor on
the balance sheet or cash flow statement.

2) Retail revenue relates to all products and related delivery income sold to
customers (both DIY and local trade), in stores or online, excluding those
reported as Design & Installation.

3) Design & Installation revenue includes all product categories which
could be sold as part of a design and/or installation and where the majority
of sales of those products are designed and/or installed.  This relates
principally to projects such as kitchens, bathrooms and solar, sold by our
Design Consultants.  Revenue is recognised when delivery and installation
(where applicable) is complete.  Design & Installation includes Solar
Fast from 21 May 2024 onwards.

4) TradePro members deemed 'active' are those who have shopped with us in the
last 12 months.

5) Ordered sales refers to the value of orders at the point when the order has
been placed.

6) Delivered sales refers to the revenue which is recognised when the Group
has satisfied its performance obligation to the customer and the customer has
obtained control of the goods or services being transferred.

7) As at 1 May 2025, consensus compiled from all covering analysts is for
adjusted PBT in 2025 of £47.7m, with a range of £45.6-51.0m.

 

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