Dunelm says forecasts may fall in tough markets

LONDON (Reuters) - Will Adderley, chief executive of British homewares retailer Dunelm (DNLM.L), said he "wouldn't be surprised" if analysts cut their profit forecasts for the current fiscal year amid worsening trading conditions.

"I think people will be reasonably relaxed with consensus for the year we've just closed," he told Reuters in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

"(But) we've seen a change in our trend over the last three months. The market's become far more nervous, so I would imagine that people will keep pretty cautious for this coming year and perhaps the following year," he added.

Analysts currently expect Dunelm to report profit before tax and one-off items of 47.4 million pounds for the year ended June 2008 and 52.6 million pounds for the year ending June 2009, according to Reuters Estimates.

Adderley said he would be "very surprised" if like-for-like sales rose this financial year, but forecast Dunelm would continue to take market share and that it would open at least 8 new stores in the period.

(Reporting by Mark Potter, Editing by Dan Lalor)