Homewares specialist Dunelm generated a sales uplift of 9% in its second quarter, when stores and online both did well.

Dunelm reported that store like-for-likes advanced 5.7% year on year in the quarter to December 29, when Dunelm.com sales climbed by 37.9%. Profit is now expected to nudge ahead of expectations.

The retailer expects first-half profits to come in at approximately £70m compared to £60m in the comparable period, and full-year earnings to beat forecasts, despite sounding a cautious note.

Dunelm said: “Given unprecedented levels of uncertainty currently facing consumers and businesses in the UK, we remain cautious about our full-year outlook.

“If the homewares market continues to grow at a similar rate to that experienced in the first half, we expect to deliver full-year profit before tax modestly ahead of the top of the range of current analysts’ forecasts.”

Chief executive Nick Wilkinson said: “We are pleased with our overall performance in the first half.

“By focusing back on our core business, under the one Dunelm brand, we are improving our trading and financial performance.

“The positive like-for-like revenue growth both in stores and online highlights the strength of our customer offer. Our multichannel proposition is improving all the time, and we are looking forward to introducing our new web platform in the summer, using more flexible technology which will allow us to better serve our customers in a changing retail landscape.

“Despite our strong performance in the year to date, we remain cautious on the outlook for the second half given the ongoing uncertainty in the UK economy.

“However, in the medium term, we see significant opportunity to grow the business by focusing on our customers and seizing opportunities in a digital world.”