Last year the DFS Furniture Board took the decision not to recommend the payment of a dividend in order to support the Group's financial resilience. As set out in greater detail in the CFO's report, this year, as a result of their strong financial performance they will be recommending a final FY21 dividend of 7.5p per share.
Other financial highlights include:
● Revenue from continuing operations grew by £94.1m or 9.7% compared to the non Covid disrupted pro-forma FY19 period (up 7.2% on an as reported basis vs. FY19 pro forma), as they leveraged their scale, operating experience and long-standing relationships to accelerate our make-to-order deliveries rate.
● Growth in new orders in the period was significantly stronger than the revenue growth and was driven by market share gains, pent-up demand from 'lockdown one', and a shift in consumer spending to the home, leading to a high closing order bank that will be recognised through H1 FY22.
● Resilient trading performance through lockdown periods benefitting from the strength of their integrated retail proposition, with online revenues up 184.3% year-on-year.
● Record underlying profit before tax excluding brand amortisation achieved of £105.8m; £99.2m on a reported basis.
● Significant reduction in net bank debt to £19.0m (c.£89m excluding temporary working capital benefit) from £157.7m at previous financial year end with period end leverage at 0.2x.
● New three year agreement for £225m ESG-linked senior revolving credit facility to December 2023 with two further one year extension options.
● Strong consumer demand continues to be experienced over the first 12 weeks of FY22 with the current order bank at a record high, providing further resilience.
