Wickes Group plc has today released its full year results for the year ended 1 January 2022.

Financial Highlights

• Revenue up 14.0% to £1.53bn (2020: £1.35bn) driven by
  • Further market share gains in Core, supported by range development, enhanced service proposition and strong digital performance
  • Strengthened Trade position with over 80,000 new TradePro customers, taking the base to over 630,000
  • Resilient performance in DIFM despite Covid disruption, supported by virtual customer journey and new ranges
• Like-for-like sales* up 13.0% on 2020 and 18.6% on 2019
• Adjusted profit before tax increased to £85.0m** (2020 £49.5m)
• Reported profit before tax increased to £65.4m (2020 £28.9m)
• IFRS net debt of £618.7m; leverage reduced to 2.8x (see Appendix)
• Final dividend declared of 8.8p, a total of 10.9p for the full financial year representing 40% of adjusted profit after tax

Strategic Highlights

• Significant outperformance, growing at over twice the rate of the market
• Strength of our market position and returns give confidence to accelerate investment to drive growth; investing an incremental £15m per year
• Accelerating the store refit programme, now expected to be completed within five years, with 12-15 stores refitted p.a.
• New store opportunities identified with potential for up to 20 new stores over the next 5 years
• Setting out capital allocation policy supporting accelerated investment for growth, enhanced ordinary dividend of 40% of adjusted profit after tax and targeting IFRS net debt leverage consistently less than 2.75x - with excess capital available to be returned to shareholders over time
• Repositioned all of our ESG work under the banner of Responsible Business. Three pillars cover People, Environment, and Homes, supported by strong governance, safety and wellbeing, and responsible sourcing

Current Trading and Outlook

• Trading in the first 11 weeks is in line with last year
• As we annualise strong 2021 comparatives, Core sales are down 6.7% year on year and 26.3% ahead YO2Y, notably driven by buoyant demand from local trade with trade customer order books at record levels
• DIFM has had a positive start to the year and the order pipeline has continued to build strongly through our key winter sale trading period. Together with our significant carried forward order book, double that of a year ago, this gives us confidence that delivered sales will be ahead of 2019
• We expect to make further progress in the year ahead, being mindful of recent geopolitical events and macroeconomic uncertainty

David Wood, Chief Executive, said:

“I am delighted to report a year of excellent growth. Our performance is testament to the resilience and hard work of our colleagues, our strong supplier relationships, uniquely balanced business model and market leading customer proposition.”

“Our strategy is delivering strong growth and return on investment. The results we are seeing, plus these strong returns, give us confidence to accelerate our investments to drive further growth.”

“Looking ahead, we expect to continue outperforming the market and are well-placed to capitalise on the ongoing requirement for home improvement – namely an ageing housing stock, favourable consumer trends, and the increased focus on insulating and retrofitting homes. While we recognise the pressure that consumers will be facing in 2022, we have the right model, a strong pipeline and order book, and remain confident of making further progress in the current year driven by a material increase in DIFM revenues.”

Summary financial results