24th Feb 2014 09:42
LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares in United Carpets Group PLC shook off the dust Monday morning after the group said trading in the second half of the current financial year has been better than expected, and now expects its full-year results to be materially better than market expectations.
The UK specialist carpet and floor covering retailer said like-for-like sales for the first 21 weeks of the second half of its financial year are up 5.4% on last year, although it said the trading improvements should be put into context of a weaker trading period last year due to heavy snowfall.
The group said that although there has been a slight improvement in consumer confidence, the overall market remains challenging, although it still gave an optimistic trading outlook.
"We have been encouraged with trading in the early part of this calendar year which will flow through to better-than-expected year-end numbers. The changes we have made have transformed our business and with the economy as a whole appearing to move in the right direction, I am increasingly optimistic about the future," said Chief Executive Paul Eyre in a statement.
United Carpets began restructuring the business in 2012 by closing a significant proportion of its store base, now trading from 59 stores, down from 85, of which 48 are franchised and 11 are corporate stores. It said the core store network has responded well to the changes and is showing the benefits of the restructuring, particularly in the last few months.
Shares in the carpets and flooring retailer were trading 2.88 pence, or 42%, higher Monday morning at 9.75 pence per share.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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