United Carpets Group plc Trading Statement (6965A)
24 Februar 2014 - 8:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMUCG
RNS Number : 6965A
United Carpets Group plc
24 February 2014
24 February 2014
UNITED CARPETS GROUP PLC
("the Group" or "the Company" or "United Carpets"),
TRADING UPDATE
United Carpets, the UK's second largest chain of specialist
retail carpet and floor covering stores, is pleased to announce
that trading, in the second half of the current financial year, has
been better than expected.
On a like for like basis, sales for the 21 weeks of our second
half to date are up 5.4% against the comparable period last year.
Whilst encouraging, the trading improvement should be viewed in the
context of a weaker trading period last year which was affected by
heavy snowfall.
Notwithstanding this, the positive trading performance shows the
benefits of the actions taken to restructure the business. During
2012, the Group decided to close a significant proportion of its
store base and re-evaluate the business, to create a smaller
entity, better able to operate successfully in the current retail
environment. The restructuring was implemented over the latter half
of 2012 and during 2013 and, whilst a small amount of
rationalization is still ongoing, this has resulted in a reduction
in the number of stores from 85 to 59 today of which 48 are
franchised and 11 are corporate stores. The core store network has
responded well to the changes and is showing the benefits of the
restructuring, particularly in the last few months.
The Board also believes there has been a slight improvement in
confidence amongst consumers, however the overall market still
remains very challenging. Our core combination of providing high
quality and good value flooring ranges together with a continued
focus on improving the instore customer experience is producing
positive results.
Consequently, the Board now expect its final results for the
year ended 31 March 2014 to be materially better than market
expectations.
Paul Eyre, 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."
Enquiries:
United Carpets Group plc
Paul Eyre, Chief Executive 01709 732
Ian Bowness, Finance Director 666
Novella Communications Ltd
Tim Robertson
Ben Heath 020 3151 7008
Cantor Fitzgerald Europe
Mark Percy/Catherine Leftley (Corporate
Finance)
David Banks (Corporate Broking) 020 7894 7000
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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