23rd Jul 2018 10:17
LONDON (Alliance News) - United Carpets Group PLC on Monday posted flat annual profit due to challenges in the UK home furnishings sector and the retail market as a whole.
In its financial year ended March 31, the carpet and bed retailer recorded a GBP1.52 million pretax profit, a very marginal decrease from its GBP1.53 million profit the year before.
The company's revenue grew by 2.4% to GBP21.7 million from GBP21.2 million. United Carpets said it was pleased with its performance given that trouble in both the retail market and the home furnishings sector was "widely reported".
"In the context of today's retail market, achieving a 3.2% like-for-like sales increase was a pleasing performance," said Chief Executive Officer Paul Eyre.
The company raised its interim dividend per share to 0.285 pence, bringing the total dividend per share for the year to 0.420p from 0.405p.
"While the board believes that United Carpets is well placed to compete, it does not expect the trading environment to improve dramatically in the short to medium term...The first half of the current financial year is expected to be very challenging and the board do not anticipate the first half profit levels of the previous year to be achieved," said Chairman Peter Cowgill.
Shares in United Carpets were up 1.6% at 7.75p on Monday.
Related Shares:
UCG.L