Following today’s release of Wickes’ figures for the six months ending 28th December 2024; Sophie Mitchell, retail analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view: “Despite a stronger performance towards the end of its FY2024, with group revenue up 1.4% in Q4 and 1.8% for H2 overall, Wickes’ revenue declined 1.0% for its full year as it failed to win over consumers on DIY and big-ticket products in the challenging market. Following a decline of 17.0% in H1, Wickes’ Design & Installation category declined by 2.5% in H2. This marginal improvement in the second half will have been artificially inflated by the group’s acquisition of Solar Fast earlier in the year though, as indicated by the like-for-like (l-f-l) decline in Design & Installation for H2 of 8.2%. The kitchen & bathroom market does therefore continue to be an issue for Wickes as demand continues to be dampened by low consumer confidence and a weak housing market.
“Wickes did have a stronger performance in its Retail segment in H2, with Retail revenue rising 3.0% and 2.6% on a l-f-l basis. This does however continue to be driven by its trade proposition as it struggles to attract non-trade shoppers. TradePro sales were up 14.0% in H2 as its members increased by 19% to 581,000. Wickes highlighted that DIY sales remain in moderate decline as customers continue to focus on smaller projects. With this being an ongoing trend for the retailer, it should tap into the smaller project DIY market by opening smaller format stores, much like competitor B&Q is doing with its Local stores. These stores are more accessible to many consumers and offer everyday decorative and DIY products that are in higher demand such as paint, utilising its investments including its updated paint visualiser.
“The group’s mixed performance has, however, not dampened its profits with adjusted profit before tax for FY2024 expected to be towards the upper end of its £39.7- £44.0m forecast range, indicating that it has managed its balance sheet well through its acquisition of Solar Fast, its share buyback programme and the sale and leaseback of its Braintree store. This should put Wickes in a solid position to address pain points through investment so that it can produce revenue growth in 2025, however this will rely on it gaining popularity among non-trade shoppers again.”
