UK's Wickes sales jump 7% as design and installation business rebounds

(Reuters) -British home improvement retailer Wickes on Thursday reported a 6.9% rise in second-quarter like-for-like sales that outpaced the previous quarter, as its design and installation business returned to growth and retail revenues grew.

The company said it was comfortable with consensus expectations for annual adjusted pre-tax profit of 46.7 million pounds to 51.5 million pounds ($63.4 million-$69.9 million), despite significant cost headwinds across the retail sector.

($1 = 0.7371 pounds)

(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)