Dunelm reported its interim results on Wednesday, with a boost in like-for-like sales sending profits higher.

The FTSE-250 furniture maker said pre-tax profit for the six months to 29 December, was £70 million, an increase of 16.7% year on year. The company also said it had free cash flow of £91.2 million.

Accordingly, Dunelm increased its interim dividend increased by 7.1% to 7.5 pence per share.

Brexit

Alongside updated the market on its interim results, Dunelm also revealed it has commenced stockpiling some of its best-selling items ahead of Brexit.

Whilst the company said it imports less than 1% of its goods from EU countries, it said it had nonetheless ‘identified some risks arising from potential disruption at ‘deep-sea’ ports in the period following exit’.

Dunelm also said that approximately 2.5% of employees are EU nationals, and that the company will support its employees obtaining ‘settled status’ when needed.

Nick Wilkinson, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

“It’s been a good first six months with our strong performance reflecting the focus we have placed back on the core Dunelm business. The like-for-like revenue growth, both in stores and online, demonstrates the progress we are making in improving our multichannel proposition whilst maintaining the breadth and depth of our specialist customer offer in homewares. On top of this, good operational discipline and keeping things simple, is driving a better financial performance.”

“We traded well through our key Winter Sale period and remain pleased with our performance to date. As previously highlighted, we are cautious about the outlook for the remainder of the financial year due to the continuing political uncertainty in the UK. We are confident in delivering market expectations(5) for the full year assuming no material change in the macro-economic environment.”

“Looking to the future, we will continue to grow the business as we become a truly multichannel homewares destination, making Dunelm the first choice for even more customers, and further strengthening our market leading position.”

Dunelm shares are currently trading +3.21% as of 11:23AM (GMT).