// Wickes’ like-for-like sales slip as bad weather affected demand for seasonal lines.
// Trade sales “continue to perform well” but “DIY sales remain lower year-on-year”
For the first 16 weeks of the year, the DIY retailer‘s like-for-like revenues slipped 0.6%, while ‘do-it-for-me’ sales increased by 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”.
Meanwhile trade sales “continued to perform well” with healthy order book pipelines however DIY sales were lower year-on-year.
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While inflation “remains mixed across categories” the business said it is 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.”
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