Wickes H1 revenues grow, retail sales 'strong'

(Sharecast News) - Home improvement retailer Wickes said on Thursday that interim revenues had grown on the back of a "strong" retail sales growth and a return to positive like-for-like trading in its design and installation arm in Q2. Wickes said overall group revenue increased 5.6% year-on-year to £847.9m, with retail sales continuing to perform well, with revenues up 6.8% at £634.4m. In design and installation, a return to LFL sales growth in Q2 resulted in H1 revenues improving by 2.1% year-on-year to £213.4m.

"This has been a period of strong sales growth for Retail, driven by an increase in volumes while pricing remained broadly stable," said Wickes.

"In particular, we successfully fulfilled strong customer demand across timber, garden maintenance and decorating, which saw us further increase our market share during the half to record levels."

Wickes also noted that its balance sheet remains strong, with net cash of £158.0m at the half, after having used £8.1m as part of its ongoing £20.0m share buyback programme and £11.9m in share purchases made for the Employee Benefit Trust.

"The actions we have taken to invest in our growth levers and digital initiatives have set us up well for a successful 2025. While the business continues to face into the significant cost headwinds seen across the retail sector, our ongoing productivity programme and the strong first half performance means that we remain comfortable with current consensus expectations for adjusted PBT in 2025," added Wickes.

As of 1030 BST, Wickes shares were up 5.22% at 232.00p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com