In a trading update, the furniture retailer said it expects to deliver underlying profit before tax “slightly above £50m” for the 52 weeks to June 30, up from £38.3m for the same period the year before.

The retailer reported a 7% rise in gross sales when adjusted to include the acquisition of Sofology.

DFS said cash generation for the period had been “solid”, which led to a “lower average closing monthly net debt” over the last six months.