Wickes has posted an almost 25% drop in pre-tax profit for the six months ending 29 June 2024.
The home improvement retailer reported an adjusted pre-tax profit of £23.4m, down from £31.1m during the same period last year. Despite this drop, statutory profit before tax increased by 8.5% to £22.9m, up from £21.1m.
Wickes’ sales were dragged down by poor trading across its design and installation arm in the first half as consumers held back on big ticket purchases. First-half sales dipped by 3.4% year on year from £827.7m to £799.9m, while retail revenue was up 1% to £633.2m despite design and installation sales falling 17% to £166.7m.
Wickes attributed the decline to a slowdown in the broader home improvement market. The retailer hailed its record market share gains in retail during the first half and said it saw “particular gains” across categories including decor, garden, tiles and flooring. It said TradePro saw “strong” sales growth during the period, rising 14%, and that the number of TradePro members hit one million for the first time this month.
The market for big ticket purchasers remained “challenging” as Wickes CEO David Wood said the business was “not immune” from the “tough” market conditions in this department. Wood said: “This first half performance is testament to the hard work of all our colleagues and demonstrates the strength of our balanced business model. We achieved further volume growth and record market share gains in Retail, with TradePro remaining a key differentiator. The market for Design and Installation remained tough during the half and Wickes was not immune; nonetheless, we have seen a positive response to our value-led Wickes Lifestyle Kitchen range, which is growing strongly.”
He continued, “We’re seeing good demand for our lower-priced Wickes Lifestyle Kitchens, reflecting customers’ desire for quality and value. We continue to invest in our growth levers and are particularly excited about the recent acquisition of Solar Fast”.
We in the NTI newsroom are pondering whether a lifestyle can be defined by the choice of kitchen, and whether a “growth lever” is used to retrieve the ice-cream maker from the back of the cupboard or to fully scrape out a jar of Marmite?
