Home improvement retailer Wickes saw its sales edge down 0.6% in the 16 weeks to 22 April, although it described the performance as “encouraging”.
Delivered Do-It-For-Me (DIFM) sales rose 9.3%, although core like-for-like sales fell by 3.6%. Wickes noted core sales were affected by adverse weather, which impacted trading in the outdoor category.
Meanwhile, trade sales continued to perform well with “healthy” order book pipelines. However, DIY sales were lower year-on-year.
Wickes noted that inflation remained mixed across categories but was slowing overall, in line with its expectations.
David Wood, Chief Executive of Wickes, said: “This has been an encouraging start to the year where we have again seen the benefits of our uniquely balanced business model delivering well in a challenging economic environment.
“Our performance has been underpinned by further momentum in tade, as local traders continue to turn to Wickes to save them time and money, and a strong performance in Do-it-for-me. As we continue to make progress across our strategic growth drivers, we are confident in the group’s prospects for both the remainder of this year and the long term.”
