United Carpets reports better-than-expected trading in second half
Carpet and floorcovering retailer United Carpets has reported better-than-expected trading in the second half of its financial year.
The group said like-for-like sales rose 5.4% year-on-year in the first 21 weeks of its second half to date. While the uplift was encouraging, the group added that the improvement should be viewed in the context of a weaker trading period last year which was affected by heavy snowfall.
During 2012, United Carpets decided to close a significant proportion of its stores as part of plans to create a smaller entity that could operate better in the current retail environment.
While a small amount of rationalization is still ongoing, the number of stores has been reduced from 85 to 59 of which 48 are franchised and 11 are corporate stores. United Carpets said the core store network had responded well to the changes and was showing the benefits of the restructuring, particularly in the last few months.
Never Miss a Retail Update!In addition, the group said it had noticed a slight improvement in consumer confidence despite the overall market remaining “very challenging”.
The group’s board now expect its final results for the year ended 31 March 2014 to be “materially better” than market expectations.
Paul Eyre, United Carpets chief executive, said: “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.”
