Dunelm Group reports £109.10 million of pre-tax profit in fiscal 2020

Dunelm Group plc (LON: DNLM) said on Thursday that its pre-tax profit in fiscal 2020 came in lower than the previous year. The company attributed the decline to the Coronavirus pandemic that pushed it into temporarily closing its stores in recent months.

As companies returned to work after the government eased COVID-19 restrictions, though, Dunelm said that trading was showing signs of recovery in recent weeks.

Shares of the company lost more than 10% in the stock market on Thursday. Dunelm Group is now exchanging hands at £13.41 per share. The stock has gained over 100% since March when it printed a year to date low of £6.60 per share. Dunelm started the year 2020 at a per-share price of £11.60 per share. Learn more about how can you start trading on the stock market.

Dunelm saw an over 100% increase in Q4 digital sales

The home furnishing retailer reported £109.10 million of pre-tax profit in the year that concluded on 27^th June. In the previous year, it had recorded a much higher £125.9 million or pre-tax profit.

In terms of revenue, Dunelm registered £1.06 billion in fiscal 2020 versus the year-ago figure of £1.10 billion. The British retailer also said on Thursday that its digital sales in the fourth quarter saw an over 100% increase on a year over year basis, attributed to COVID-19 that restricted people to their homes.

According to Syston-based company, pent-up demand resulted in robust trading in the past two months. On an annualised basis, it said, its sales were up 59% in July, and 24% in August.

Dunelm didn’t declare a final dividend

Dunelm’s board did not declare a final dividend on Thursday for fiscal 2020 in a bid to shore up finances amidst the health crisis that has so far infected more than 358 thousand people and caused over 41 thousand deaths. The company said:

“Assuming no further material impact from COVID-19, the board anticipates that it will declare an interim dividend in fiscal 2021.”

In a separate announcement on Thursday, Dunelm also said that William Reeve will be taking on the role of a senior independent director. Reeve had previously been serving as an independent non-executive director at the company.

At the time of writing, the British home furnishing retailer has a market cap of £2.71 billion and has a price to earnings ratio of 24.12.