18th Dec 2015 12:27
LONDON (Alliance News) - United Carpets Group PLC, a chain of retail carpet and floor covering stores, on Friday declared an interim dividend of 0.125 pence per share and reported higher first-half profit.
Pretax profit rose to GBP588,000 in the six months ended September 30, compared with GBP534,000 in the corresponding half the prior year. Revenue rose to GBP10.1 million from GBP9.1 million.
No dividend was paid for the corresponding half the prior year, but the company had declared a special dividend of 1.0p per share and final dividend of 0.25p for that year.
"The period under review has been characterised by improvements to revenue and profitability across the group. We continue to benefit from a reasonable market environment, which has improved the returns we have made from our 61 strong portfolio of stores. With consumer confidence and the housing sector showing signs of a generally improving trend, the board is confident in the long-term prospects for the group," Chief Executive Paul Eyre said in a statement.
"The business is transitioning from a period of retrenchment to the next phase of growth from a sustainable base. The group has negligible borrowings, the network of stores continues to strengthen, the market is showing greater stability and there are opportunities, if carefully selected, to increase revenues be it through new stores or new marketing initiatives," Chairman Peter Cowgill said.
Shares in United Carpets were up 5.5% at 12.40p on Friday.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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