The billionaire founder of Dunelm has sold millions of shares in the homewares retailer after the FTSE 250 company reported a rise in its sales and profit for its latest financial year.
Sir Bill Adderley has lowered his stake in the Leicester-headquartered business from 32.3 per cent to 27.3 per cent, according to a new document filed with the London Stock Exchange.
Despite the sell off, Sir Bill remains the largest single shareholder in Dunelm by a significant margin.
Other major shareholders include his wife, Jean Adderley, as well as abrdn and JP Morgan.
Dunelm currently has a market capitalisation of around £2.5bn with its shares trading in the region of 1,157p each.
Sales and profit success for Dunelm
The move by Sir Bill comes after Dunelm saw its sales tick up despite its customers facing “competing demands” for their disposable income.
The company’s overall revenue climbed to £1.7bn in the 12 months to 29 June, 2024, up from £1.64bn the previous year.
This increase was largely driven by 6.2 per cent in the volume of goods sold and an expansion of its digital footprint.
Online sales accounted for 37 per cent of total revenue, up from 36 per cent in the prior year.
Dunelm also reported a strong gross margin of 51.8 per cent, up from 50.1 per cent in the previous year, driven by favourable freight conditions and “improved operational efficiency”.
As a result, the retailer’s pre-tax profit rose by 6.6 per cent to £205m, compared to £193m in the previous financial year.
The sell-off also comes after Frasers Group, the retail empire controlled by Mike Ashley, lowered its stake in fast-fashion giant Asos.
The group, which owns the likes of Sports Direct and House of Fraser, has decreased its holdings in Asos from 24.3 per cent to 21.1 per cent, according to a new filing with the London Stock Exchange.
Separately, Frasers Group also slashed its stake in Currys from 10.9 per cent to 2.8 per cent.
City A.M. also recently reported that the founder of budget airline and holidays operator Jet2 had further lowered his stake in the listed business after selling a further five million shares.
Philip Meeson has sold the ordinary shares to a limited number of institutional investors.