Following today’s release of Wickes’ results for the 52 weeks ending 28 December 2024; Oliver Maddison, retail analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view: “Wickes has had a tough FY2024, seeing total revenue decline by 1.0% and its adjusted operating profit fall by 8.7% to £67.4m, as consumers continued to hold back on non-essential spending while their discretionary incomes recovered. The performance of its kitchens and bathrooms sales was the culprit of the overall decline, with Wickes’ Design & Installation sales falling by 10.5%, a substantial underperformance compared to the overall kitchen furniture and bathroom furniture markets, which GlobalData forecasts to have declined by 2.2% and 3.5%, respectively. Wickes can take cold comfort that big-ticket furniture sales were also the primary drag on rival B&Q’s sales as consumers seeking value for money increasingly looked to specialists. Wickes’ 1.9% growth in retail revenue was driven by a strong performance in its TradePro business, which grew by 14%. Thanks to its competitive price points and effective customer loyalty scheme, this looks to have outperformed B&Q’s Tradepoint, given the mid-to-high single-digit like-for-like (l-f-l) growth Kingfisher reported during 2024, but also indicates a continued decline in consumer DIY sales.
“Despite the underwhelming performance of the Design & Installation side of the business, Wickes appears to be showing the green shoots of a turnaround in the category following strong housing transactions (HMRC reported 14% residential transaction growth in January) and consumers beginning to feel more able to spend on big-ticket items. Design & Installation l-f-l sales declined by 3.1% in Q4, compared to 13.2% for the year and a low of 18.9% in Q2, and while delivered revenue has remained negative for the first 11 weeks of 2025, Wickes has seen two consecutive quarters of order growth in the category (although this will likely have been inflated by the acquisition of Solar Fast). Investors have been reassured by this news, with Wickes’ share price increasing this morning.
“Despite investments in its store proposition and digital offering, Wickes will have to make further strides to better meet customer needs to keep up with B&Q, especially given its continued weakness in non-trade retail sales as consumers tackle smaller-scale projects. As part of its store expansion plans, Wickes must explore options to improve the convenience of its proposition to better compete with B&Q’s growing portfolio of small format B&Q Local stores. This could be used alongside Wickes’ AI-driven stock optimisation gains to improve the convenience of its fulfilment options and boost its online sales to rival B&Q’s partnership with Deliveroo and impressive online sales growth.”
