(Reuters) -British home improvement retailer Wickes on Tuesday forecast 2024 profit would be at the higher end of market expectations on strong demand for garden project-related equipment and for interior paint, sending shares 12% higher.
Home improvement retailers have had a tough year on slowing demand for big projects, but Wickes said that sales at its design and installation business were declining at a slower pace.
“Looking to the year ahead we are well positioned to outperform the market as we continue to invest in our strategic growth levers,” CEO David Wood said in a statement.
The company’s group revenue rose 1.8% in the second half of the year, compared with a 3.4% fall in the first half.
Wickes said it estimated adjusted pretax profit would be at the upper end of a company-compiled analysts’ forecast range of 39.7 million pounds to 44 million pounds ($49.3 million – $54.7 million).
Shares in Wickes, which made a market debut in April 2021, jumped nearly 12% to 172 pence and are on track for their best day ever.
($1 = 0.8046 pounds)
(Reporting by Simone Lobo and Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza and Eileen Soreng)
