The DFS Furniture Plc Board recommends a final dividend of 2.0 pence per share, bringing the full year dividend to 3.0 pence.
Other Financial Highlights:
● Robust financial progress: Delivered significant earnings growth in a subdued market; uPBT(A) increased 48.7% to £44.9m (FY25: £30.2m), meeting upgraded guidance.
● Multi-brand resilience and Sofology outperformance: Market share at record high of 40%. Distinct brand propositions provided resilience with Sofology outperforming the wider market, delivering order intake growth of +2.6% (+19.3% Yo2Y), supported by its higher-income customer base, strategic range refreshes, and successful promotional execution.
● Scaling the non-upholstery 'Home' category: Delivered +10.9% order intake growth in Home (beds, mattresses, dining, living room furniture) supported by mezzanine rollout trials that provide a strong blueprint to grow our share in the £5bn adjacent Home market.
● Achievement of strategic 58% gross margin target: Gross margin expanded by 160bps to 58.1% achieving the Group's strategic target.
● Commercialising group operating platforms: Onboarded three third-party retailers onto The Sofa Delivery Company platform during a successful 'test and learn' phase, monetising spare logistics capacity to unlock capital-light B2B revenue.
● Record customer satisfaction: All areas of our vertically integrated model are performing well contributing to record established customer net promoter scores (+7% year-on-year).
● Strong colleague engagement and cultural alignment: Colleague engagement scores increased significantly (+19% YoY), supported by the successful rollout of our new Group purpose, mission and core values.
● Balance sheet strengthening and dividend restoration: Strong free cash flow generation of £40.3m reduced net bank debt by £38.0m to £69.0m, reducing leverage from 1.4x to 0.9x. The Board proposes a final ordinary dividend of 2.0p per share (3.0p total FY26 dividend).
