Wickes sales slip on bad weather

DIY retailer Wickes said like-for-like sales fell in the 16 weeks to April 22, as bad weather hampered demand for seasonal products.

Wickes said that delivered ’do-it-for-me’ sales were rose 9.3%, but core like-for-likes fell sales 3.6%, ”affected by adverse weather in 2023 to date, affecting outdoor and weather-related categories”.

However, it said “sales trends have improved towards the end of the period as the weather has started to normalise”.

Trade sales continued to perform well but DIY sales were still lower year-on-year. Inflation, which has caused customers to retrench spending was mixed across the company's divisions but was slowing in line with expectations.

“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, said chief executive David Wood.

”Our performance has been underpinned by further momentum in Trade, 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.”

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com