DFS Furniture has shared a trading update for the 26 weeks to 28th December 2025 and beyond, reporting a "strong financial performance" which it says reflects its "market-leading customer proposition, strong gross margin progression, continued cost discipline and the benefits of operating leverage".
In H1, the group's underlying profit before tax and brand amortisation (PBTu(A)) is expected to be £30-31m, up £13 to +£14m YoY. Group order intake during the period was up +2.3%YoY, 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 some 8.7% YoY, "driven by the conversion to delivered orders of the elevated opening order bank as previously guided, and the continued positive order intake performance", says DFS, while strong free cash flow generation during the period resulted in net bank debt reducing from £107m to £60-61m at 28th December.
Moving on to more recent trading, DFS says the key winter sale trading period has started in line with its expectations, adding: "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 H1 on 19th March.
DFS also announced the upcoming appointment of Dominique Highfield in May as its 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," says DFS. "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."
Tim Stacey, group chief executive, adds: "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 £1.4b revenue and 8% PBT margin and delivering attractive returns for our shareholders as the market recovers."
