Shares of Doncaster-based DFS Furniture rose about 7% on Tuesday after it said its first-half revenue rose 17.3% to £572.6 million in the 26 weeks ended December 27, 2020, and pre-tax profit soared by £56.2 million to £72.1 million.

Online revenues soared 66.2% year-on-year.

DFS said its order bank is currently over £65 million higher in revenue terms than the prior year equivalent date.

“While we do not propose a dividend with the interim results, we see the potential to restart ordinary dividend payments in the near term, subject to outlook and operational performance,” said DFS.

In its outlook, DFS said: “The investments we have made in our digital channels have generated exceptional revenue growth.

“Consequently our order bank remains well above normal levels and, subject to showrooms reopening by 12 April 2020, our central planning scenario is for an expected full year profit before tax outcome of approximately £105m, with further benefits to be realised in next year’s financial results.”

DFS Furniture CEO Tim Stacey said: “This strong first half profit and cash flow performance is a true reflection of the supreme efforts put in by our teams right across the group since the start of the pandemic.

“I am hugely grateful to every colleague for their constant focus on the safety, health and wellbeing of all their colleagues and also our customers.

“Our business has proven to be resilient throughout the period despite showroom closures and a significant amount of external disruption in our supply chains.

“The investments we’ve made in our digital channels have generated exceptional revenue growth.

“Consequently our order bank remains well above normal levels and, subject to showrooms reopening by 12 April 2020, our central planning scenario is for an expected full year profit before tax outcome of approximately £105m, with further benefits to be realised in next year’s financial results.

“We’re committed to our strategy to lead sofa retailing in the digital age with our proven integrated retail model. 

“We expect to see a good level of activity in the home market as Covid-19 restrictions ease and, having accelerated the execution of our strategy and grown our market share, we are well set for future growth.”