Dunelm is the UK's leading specialist out of town homewares retailer, operating in the 12bn homewares market. The Group currently operates 161 stores, branded Dunelm Mill, of which 157 are out-of-town superstores and 4 are high street shops. The majority of the stores are located in the Midlands or north-west of England. Dunelm employs over 5,000 full and part time staff, the vast majority of whom work in the stores.

Dunelm was founded in 1979 as a market stall business, selling ready-made curtains. The first shop was opened in Leicester in 1984 and over the following years the business developed into a successful chain of high street shops in the Midlands specialising in soft furnishings. The first Dunelm superstore was opened in 1991, leading to the Group's expansion into the broader homewares market.

The superstores provide an average of 28,000 sq ft of selling space and offer an extensive range of around 20,000 products across a broad spectrum of categories, including bedding, curtains, gifts and seasonal items, cushions, bathroom products, kitchenware, quilts, pillows and rugs. Dunelm also specialises in offering a wide range of fabrics, made to measure curtains and a frequently changing series of special buys. The directors are passionate about ensuring that all ranges live up to Dunelm's philosophy of offering customers "Simply Value for Money".

Dunelm also operates an on-line store, to be found at www.dunelm-mill.com.

Dunelm listed on the London Stock Exchange in October 2006 (DNLM.L) and has a current market capitalisation of approximately 750 million

Hmmmmm

Expected more, must be getting greedy with age. :-))

:-))

The first quarter interim management statement from Dunelm sees the group going up easier comparatives figures, as a year ago like-for-like (LFL) sales were down 2.0% year-on-year (yoy).

"However, given the deterioration in market data, we expect a sharp slowdown in LFL sales and pencil in a flat quarter for Dunelm. Gross margin likely to show modest progress yoy," Peel Hunt suggests.

Just about broken out.

Every broker... and his dog is
upgrading this one this morning.

NICE.

"Dunelm hits top spot on the Uk High St" - Dunelm has leapfrogged John Lewis to become the UK's biggest seller of items for the Home.

VERY NICE :-)

Interesting "correction" in the price of this one recently. Keeping an eye on it - it's one that has proved profitable for me on a day trading basis as it quite often leaps around on low volume intraday.

That's it finally broke the £9 barrier, won't be too long before we see a tenner a share.

Final results

Highlights

· Continuing market share gains; now market leader with 6.9% of UK homewares market (source: Verdict Research);

· 14 new openings in the year (including two relocations and one re-opening) increasing footprint to 126 superstores;

· Contractually committed to 10 more superstores;

· 80% growth in multi-channel revenues, now representing over 4% of total business;

· Increasing investment in brand awareness - "There's no place like Dunelm";

· Continued investment in customer proposition, infrastructure, IT systems and people,to underpin long-term growth;

Dividends

· Recommended final dividend of 11.5p per share (2012: 10.0p), giving full year dividend of 16.0p (2012: 14.0p);

· Special dividend of 25.0p per share to be paid in October, returning a further £50.7m of excess cash to shareholders.

Verb Sap

Cantor Fitzgerald Buy 942.50 940.00 900.00 1,020.00 Upgrades

Citigroup Buy 942.50 940.00 1,200.00 1,200.00 Retains

Nomura Neutral 942.50 940.00 990.00 990.00 Reiterates

Deutsche Bank Hold 942.50 940.00 925.00 960.00 Reiterates

Dunelm goes ex special dividend [25p] tomorrow

Listen to Nick Wharton, CEO & David Stead, FD of Dunelm Group plc (DNLM)

Preliminary results presentation, click the link below to listen:

Click here

Sharecast -

Buy homewares retailer Dunelm, the Sunday Times’s Danny Fortson advised. The company has quietly powered its way through the long period of economic gloom and is about to launch its first national TV advertising campaign. Its October 2nd trading update is likely to feature a sales dip caused by unusually hot weather but investors shouldn’t be deterred. With opportunities to expand through stores, catalogues and online, Dunelm’s winning streak has some way to go, Fortson wrote in the Inside the City column.

Good find dc

Interim Management Statement

Trading was volatile during the quarter with a marked reduction in footfall during the unusually warm weather reflecting Dunelm's status as a destination visit for discretionary homewares shopping. Accordingly the first four weeks of the period showed a significant decline in sales on a LFL basis. We returned to LFL growth over the remainder of the quarter.

As anticipated, gross margin has continued to increase year on year, with an estimated 70 basis points rise compared with the equivalent quarter last year. This reflects the benefit of increased direct sourcing compared with last year, as well as the cleaner inventory position at the start of the financial year following margin investments made in the second half of the previous year.

Store Portfolio

The estate currently comprises 126 superstores across the UK. Having committed to two further stores since our preliminary results announcement, a total of 12 further openings are now under contract, including two relocations. Six new stores are anticipated to commence trading prior to Christmas.

Financial Position

As at 28th September 2013 net cleared funds amounted to £75.4m. Daily average net cleared funds over the quarter were £57.1m. As recently announced, a special dividend amounting to £50.7m (25.0p per share) will be paid on 11th October 2013.

Still holding, the TV advert campaign might encourage more footfall

Rather than a share buyback, the board paid a special dividend which I much prefer

Burgeoning golden cross.

Skinny
The GC has changed to Black Cross; may come good though !

Have you seen any of Dunelm's TV advertising over this Christmas period ?

No I haven't as yet - Black cross?