Home improvement retailer Wickes has reported retail revenue of £579.1m ($728.3m) in the second half of fiscal 2024, increasing 3% from the same period of the previous year.
This growth comes despite a challenging market environment and reflects the company’s resilience.
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The company’s design and installation segment shows recovery, with its rate of revenue decline decelerating.
Overall group revenue was £738.9m, a1.8% rise year-on-year for the second half of the year, while retail sales also experienced strong growth.
The company expanded its market share, with notable performance lifts in interior paint, decorative accessories and garden projects.
This sales momentum was propelled by volume growth, despite a 2% deflation in the latter half of the year.
TradePro, Wickes’ offering for local trade professionals, reported a 14% surge in sales year-on-year during the same timeframe. The number of active TradePro members climbed 19% to 581,000.
While DIY sales saw a moderate downturn as consumers concentrated on smaller-scale projects, design and installation sales exhibited an upturn due to strategic enhancements made to customer offerings and experiences throughout 2024.
Despite the uncertain outlook for high-value purchases, Wickes’ adjustments led to ordered sales experiencing year-on-year growth in the fourth quarter (Q4).
The decline in delivered sales lessened significantly from -13.3% in Q3 to -3.1% in Q4.
Investments continued with strategic initiatives such as opening a new store in Leamington Spa — the fourth during the year — and refurbishing two additional stores, bringing the total refits for the year to seven. 80% of Wickes’ store estate has now been updated to the new format.
The company’s net cash at the end of the year stood at £86.3m.
This is after various financial activities including acquiring a majority stake in Solar Fast for £5.1m, completing a £25.0m share buyback programme, and raising £6.2m through a sale and leaseback deal for their Braintree store.
Looking ahead, Wickes anticipates its adjusted profit before tax for FY24 to be at the higher end of market expectations, which range between £39.7m and £44.0m.
Wickes chief executive David Wood said: “Wickes’ differentiated model continues to deliver. We’ve grown sales and volumes in Retail, and TradePro had yet another period of double-digit sales growth, as local tradespeople continue to choose us to save them time and money.
“Meanwhile, measures we took to improve our offer in Design & Installation have enabled us to return to ordered sales growth.
“We expect to deliver FY24 profit towards the upper end of the forecast range and looking to the year ahead we are well positioned to outperform the market as we continue to invest in our strategic growth levers.”
The retailer plans to release full-year results for the period ending 28 December 2024 in March 2025.
