Dunelm has reported a 6.7 per cent fall in underlying pre-tax profit to £109 million, with results being blamed on integration costs and trading losses at its Worldstores brand.

During the year to 30 June, the homewares retailer’s revenue rose by 9.9 per cent to £1.05 billion, while like-for-like sales grew by 4.2 per cent.

Growth was driven by online channels, with like-for-like online home delivery sales up 37.9 per cent. Dunelm’s online sales now represent 13.5 per cent of total sales, compared to 11.2 per cent in the previous year.

Chief executive Nick Wilkinson said that the UK retail environment remains challenging, “but against this difficult background we have traded in line with expectations during the current financial year to date”.

During the year Dunelm ceased trading its Worldstores websites as separate entities. A statement explained that the main benefit of the Worldstores acquisition in 2016 was the access it gives to technology and digital development capabilities, as Dunelm looks to grow its online business.

“We are preparing to launch Dunelm.com on our new proprietary technology to give us much greater agility in improving our customer proposition,” said Wilkinson. “This is a new and exciting chapter for Dunelm as we fully embrace digital retailing.”

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