Half-Year Sales Growth
Group sales grew 3.6% year-on-year to GBP 926m in H1, with Q1 up 6.2% and Q2 up 1.6%.
Gross Margin Expansion
Gross margin improved by 60 basis points year-on-year to 53.4%, driven largely by a favorable foreign exchange tailwind and disciplined pricing/promotions.
Market Share Gain
Market share increased by 0.2 percentage points to 7.9%.
Customer Satisfaction and Engagement
Introduced CSAT metric and delivered a 2.6 percentage point increase year-on-year; strong early engagement with the app (130k organic downloads pre-launch) and digital participation rose 2 percentage points to 41%.
Cash Generation and Balance Sheet Actions
Headline free cash flow of GBP 171.4m (65% conversion) and headline net cash of GBP 13m. Board declared an interim dividend of 17p (up 3% YoY) and a special dividend of 25p; share buyback program (up to 1.6m shares) announced for employee schemes.
Product Availability Recovery
Following forecasting issues in furniture, availability has materially improved and is now reported north of ~95% after system/process adjustments.
Product and Range Strength
Strong performance in core categories (soft textiles, lighting), higher average item values driven by product and category mix, 70% of products sold under Dunelm brand and focus on good/better/best range clarity.
Cost Productivity Initiatives
Productivity benefits of GBP 6m in H1 from optimization of performance marketing and store/labor efficiencies, rollout of self-serve checkouts (planned in >100 stores by year-end) and targeted packaging changes reduced 1-person home delivery complaints by 20%.
Reduced CapEx Guidance
CapEx guidance reduced to around GBP 40m for FY26 (down from prior estimate of ~GBP 50m) reflecting timing of store openings and a lower near-term investment profile.
Strategic Leadership and Priorities
New CEO reflections and appointment of a Chief Customer Officer to sharpen brand positioning, personalization, store format strategy and to accelerate digital and omnichannel initiatives.