Invest

Furniture retailer DFS has posted record EBITDA of £80m despite the squeeze on consumer spending.

The Doncaster-based company saw sales fall by 2.2% to £638.4m but ended the year with cash balances of £38.9m, up from £7m last year.

The figures, for the 12 months to the end of July, represent the company's first full year under the ownership of private equity firm Advent which bought DFS in 2010 for £500m.

DFS chief executive Ian Filby said: “This year’s good results are a testimony to the hard work and commitment of DFS’s people, and their determination to deliver great customer service in a most challenging trading environment.

“Like all UK retailers, we are operating in a climate of great economic uncertainty and falling consumer confidence. This slowed our sales performance through the second half of 2010/11, and we expect that it will continue to affect same stores sales in the current financial year.

"Our plans have been made on the assumption that there will be no early improvement in the trading environment, and are once again focused on the areas within management’s control - ensuring that DFS continues to increase its market share by offering an outstanding proposition and providing excellent service both in store and online, and making us accessible to even more customers through our targeted programme of store expansion, financed from our strong cash flow.

"We will also continue to focus on managing margin and costs, maximising cash generation and maintaining a robust balance sheet."

The company has already opened five new stores in this financial year and is expecting to open a further five.

This story first appeared in The Business Desk, to read the original article please visit http://bit.ly/uDvPS1