Upholstered furniture retailer DFS has reported a growth in order intake and expects full year profit to be ahead of initial forecasts.
According to its latest trading update for the 26 week financial reporting period ended 28 December 2025, group order intake was up +2.3% year on year, with both DFS and Sofology brands achieving growth, against strong comparatives and in a broadly flat market.
“Gross sales recognised on delivery of orders to customers, are expected to be up +c8.7% year on year driven by the conversion to delivered orders of the elevated opening order bank as previously guided and the continued positive order intake performance,” DFS said.
H1 Group pre-tax profit is expected to be £30-31m, up +£13 to +£14m year on year. DFS added that its “strong financial performance” reflects “our market leading customer proposition, strong gross margin progression, continued cost discipline and the benefits of operating leverage”.
As for recent trading, the Winter sale trading period has started “in line with our expectations”, while DFS now expects full year pre-tax profit to be between £43-50m, ahead of current consensus of £41m.
DFS has also announced that Dominique Highfield will be joining the Group in May 2026 as its permanent CFO. Dominique is currently CFO at Bloom and Wild, and previously held senior finance and operational roles at Purplebricks, Pentland and Amazon.
“She has an excellent pedigree both in working with successful consumer brands and in supporting sustainable growth,” DFS said. “We look forward to welcoming and working with Dominique.
“We would like to thank Marie Wall for her incredible support, contribution and impact throughout her time with the Group as interim CFO. She leaves DFS really well placed to capitalise on the opportunities we have ahead.
“The Board will work on a transition plan in the coming months to ensure a smooth and effective handover. We wish Marie every success in her future endeavours.”
Tim Stacey, Group Chief Executive, added: “Our three key enablers of scale and vertical integration, utilising data and harnessing our unique culture are strengthening our market leading proposition and driving order intake across both DFS and Sofology in a broadly flat market.
“We have continued to make good progress growing our gross margins and managing our cost base effectively. As a result, I am pleased to report an upgrade to our full year profit expectations following a strong first half performance.
“I am confident that the business is well positioned to continue delivering against our strategy and we remain committed to achieving our medium term targets of £1.4bn revenue and 8% PBT margin and delivering attractive returns for our shareholders as the market recovers.”
