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DFS Furniture PLC on Tuesday said it expects a sharp increase in first-half profit and upgraded its full-year outlook, citing strong order intake and improvement in its margins. Shares in the company rose 6.6% to 195.00 pence in London on Tuesday morning. The Doncaster, England-based furniture retailer said underlying profit before tax and brand amortisation for the 26 weeks to December 28 is expected to be between £30 million and £31 million, up between £13 million and £14 million from a year earlier. DFS said order intake during the period rose 2.3% year-on-year, with both its DFS and Sofology brands delivering growth, despite a broadly flat market and strong prior-year comparatives. Gross sales recognised on delivery of orders to customers are expected to increase by about 8.7%. Cash generation during the first half helped reduce net bank debt to around £60 million to £61 million at December 28, from £107 million at the end of the previous financial year. Leverage improved to 0.8 times on a reported basis, within the group’s target range. The company said the important winter sale trading period has begun in line with its expectations. As a result of the first-half performance and trading so far in the second half, DFS now expects full-year underlying profit before tax and brand amortisation to be between £43 million and £50 million, ahead of current market consensus of £41 million. Chief Executive Officer Tim Stacey said: ‘I am confident that the business is well positioned to continue delivering against our strategy and we remain committed to achieving our medium term targets of £1.4 billion revenue and 8% pretax profit margin and delivering attractive returns for our shareholders as the market recovers’ Separately, DFS announced the appointment of Dominique Highfield as its new chief financial officer from May 2026. Highfield is currently CFO at Bloom & Wild Ltd. DFS said it will publish its interim results for the period ended December 28 on March 19. Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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