15th Dec 2015 08:00
LONDON (Alliance News) - Carpetright PLC on Tuesday said it remains on track to meet its expectations for the full year after its pretax profit and revenue both edged higher in the first half.
The carpets retailer said its pretax profit for the half to the end of October was GBP7.1 million, up from GBP6.7 million a year before, despite including a GBP1.9 million exceptional charge taken on the disposal of property assets. Underlying pretax profit for the group, which strips out exceptional items, rose to GBP9.0 million from GBP6.7 million a year earlier.
Revenue increased to GBP231.2 million from GBP227.9 million, with 2.6% growth in the UK offsetting a 5.7% decline in revenue in the rest of Europe, resulting from the weak euro. On a like-for-like basis, UK sales increase 3.7% in the half, a slowdown on the 6.5% growth posted a year earlier, while like-for-like sales rose 5.5% in the rest of Europe.
Carpetright said it has seen encouraging early results from its new retail concept stores as it continues to revamp its store estate. In the half, the company cut its net store base by 22 to 438 outlets, trimming its total selling space by 4.8% but improving profitability through cutting costs.
The company said its underlying pretax profit remains in line with its expectations for the full year to the end of April.
"I am pleased to be able to report the group continued its positive like-for-like sales performance and grew profits significantly during the first half. In parallel, we made good further progress with a wide-ranging programme of initiatives to extend the appeal of the Carpetright brand and address significant legacy property issues," said Wilf Walsh, Carpetright's chief executive.
"In a retail market which remains very competitive, we are confident that our plan to build on Carpetright's strong foundations, modernise the business, and ensure we capitalise on our advantages as market leader to the full, is on track. Our full-year profit expectations remain unchanged," Walsh added.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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