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Wickes Group PLC on Tuesday declared an unchanged interim dividend, saying it plans to make the same payout for all of 2023 as it did in 2022, despite cost inflation and technology investment hitting profit.
Watford, England-based Wickes operates 229 home-improvement product stores in the UK, serving the building trade, as well as consumers with both do-it-yourself and do-it-for-me offerings.
Pretax profit in the 26 weeks that ended July 1 was £21.1 million, down 37% from £33.5 million a year before. Revenue edged up 0.7% to £827.7 million from £822.3 million. Within this, revenue in the core trade and DIY businesses slipped 0.9% to £626.8 million from £632.6 million, while DIFM revenue rose 5.9% to £200.9 million from £189.7 million.
Despite the profit setback, Wickes declared an unchanged interim dividend of 3.6 pence, saying this reflected its intention to maintain the same annual dividend as in 2022, when it paid 10.9p. Wickes also said it has a £25 million share buyback programme underway.
The company had £190.0 million in cash on July 1, up from £99.5 million at the end of 2022 and £166.5 million a year ago.
Trading in July and August was in line with its expectations, Wickes said. It continues to expect 2023 adjusted pretax profit to be in line with market consensus that it placed at £45 million to £48 million after IT investment costs. This compares to £75.4 million in 2022.
In the first half of 2023, adjusted pretax profit was £31.1 million, down 25% from £41.3 million in 2022.
‘As we head into the Autumn, we are well-stocked with our extensive range of energy-saving products, as we look to support our customers in insulating their homes,’ said Chief Executive David Wood, adding: ‘We are well on track for the remainder of the year and we have the right strategy in place to make further market share gains within the large home improvement sector.’
Wickes shares were up 1.3% at 140.41p in London on Tuesday morning.
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