24th Oct 2006 07:01
Carpetright PLC24 October 2006 Carpetright plc Pre First Half Close Trading Statement Carpetright plc, Europe's leading specialist carpet and floor coveringsretailer, today announces its first half trading update, which covers the first25 weeks of the financial year ending 28 April 2007. The UK and Republic of Ireland business has recorded a total sales increase of5.9% with like for like sales up by 0.3%. The Rest of Europe has recorded atotal sales increase of 9.1% with like for like sales up by 3.6%. Within the UK and Republic of Ireland we have opened 60 stores including ourfirst store in Jersey, and closed seven taking the total number of stores to 493including 62 concessions. Additionally, we have opened two stores in TheNetherlands and one store in Poland taking the Group total to 594 stores. Lord Harris of Peckham, Chairman and Chief Executive, said: "We are pleased with our overall sales performance in the UK and Republic ofIreland and we have improved gross margins by at least 2%. We have continued toexpand our store base and are well placed to take advantage of improvingmarkets." "We have continued to achieve strong growth in Belgium and The Netherlands andwill open further new stores in Poland and The Netherlands in the second half,which will support the ongoing growth in our market share." The Group's interim results for the six months to 28 October 2006 will bepresented on 12 December 2006. For further enquiries please contact: Carpetright plcIan Kenyon, Group Finance Director 01708 525522 Citigate Dewe RogersonSara Batchelor / Kevin Smith / Fiona Mulcahy 020 7638 9571 Carpetright plc Pre First Half Close Trading Statement 2006 2005Store Base - Numbers 21 October 2006 29 April 2006 29 October 2005 30 April 2005UK & RoI Large 369 354 346 345 Small 62 46 34 28 Concessions 62 40 35 30 493 440 415 403Rest of Europe Belgium 28 28 29 28 The Netherlands 70 68 64 61 Poland 3 2 - - 101 98 93 89Group Total 594 538 508 492 2006 2005Store Space (knsf) 21 October 2006 29 April 2006 29 October 2005 30 April 2005UK & RoI Large 3,607 3,476 3,421 3,404 Small 306 241 178 146 Concessions 144 105 77 68 4,057 3,822 3,676 3,618Rest of Europe Belgium 347 347 368 359 The Netherlands 854 836 814 784 Poland 35 23 - - 1,236 1,206 1,182 1,143Group Total 5,293 5,028 4,858 4,761 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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