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The boss of Dunelm has warned that its prices will 鈥渁ccelerate鈥� in the next few months amid surging costs.

The Leicestershire-based home furnishings chain is under pressure from high freight costs, rocketing utilities bills and wage inflation.

Chief executive Nick Wilkinson told the PA news agency that the company had kept prices flat in previous years but has recently imposed increases and expects more to come.

He said: 鈥淧rice increases have been a feature of the past 12 months as we鈥檝e seen pressure on costs.

鈥淭hat will probably accelerate in the next few months, but we recognise the position of our customers so will continue to provide a wide choice on pricing.

鈥淪ome may choose to price down but we have those products available so don鈥檛 expect to see a huge impact there.鈥�

The comments came after Dunelm revealed that customers sprucing up their homes during the pandemic helped drive record profits over the past half-year, although it warned that the economic backdrop remains 鈥渦ncertain鈥�.

It added that trading in 2022 so far has been 鈥渆ncouraging鈥� as it shrugged off the potential impact of the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

It came as the Leicestershire-based business revealed that pre-tax profits jumped by more than a quarter to 拢140.8 million for the six months to Christmas Day, compared with the same period last year.

The group said it is therefore on track to meet profit guidance which it increased last month following strong festive sales.

Dunelm stressed that the wider economic outlook 鈥渞emains uncertain鈥� but added that it is well positioned to navigate inflationary pressures amid soaring costs for retailers.

It said the fact that it sells 鈥渓argely own-brand product鈥� and has strong supplier links will help shelter it somewhat from major headwinds.