Carpetright sees rise in UK sales
Carpet and floorcoverings retailer Carpetright has reported that like-for-like sales in the UK grew by 6.1% in the first quarter of its financial year.
In the 13 weeks to 26 July, UK total sales increased by 5.2%. The retailer said its UK business had seen “small but steady” improvements in sales growth during May and June, with a significant acceleration in July, assisted by weak comparatives in 2013 when sales were impacted by a prolonged period of hot weather. Over the period, gross profit margins decreased by 260 basis points as the retailer introduced “market beating” promotions.
During the quarter, Carpetright opened four stores in the UK and closed nine to give a total of 467 stores.
The company fared less well in the Rest of Europe with sales in the Netherlands, Ireland and Belgium falling by 3.6% on a like-for-like basis and by 3.9% on a total basis. After the impact of currency movements this translated to a 10.1% decrease in total sales.
However, Carpetright said sales in the Rest of Europe business had recently shown signs of improvement and that the Netherlands and Belgium had returned to profit in the first quarter.
Carpetright, which has recently appointed Wilf Walsh as its new chief executive, said its expectations for the current year remain unchanged despite tough trading trading conditions.
The company will report its pre-close trading update for the first half of its financial year on 14 October.
