Carpetright Trading 'In Line With Expectations'; CFO to Retire

Carpetright plc, Europe's leading specialist carpet and floor coverings retailer, today announces a trading update for the 13 week period to 26 January 2019.

Trading Update

- The Group's overall performance remains in line with expectations

- As anticipated UK like-for-like sales remained negative for the period, although the trend has improved from that of the first half.  Trading patterns have remained volatile week to week, against a backdrop of uncertainty and weak consumer confidence

- Trading in the Rest of Europe has been tracking consistently ahead of the same period last year, driven by a strong performance in the Netherlands

- We remain on target to achieve the £19m of annualised cash savings announced as part of the recapitalisation of the Group in May 2018

CFO Succession

Carpetright announces that Neil Page, Chief Financial Officer, has, after more than ten years in post and over thirty years in retailing, confirmed his intention to retire from a full-time plc role.  He will step down from the Board on 25 February 2019 but will continue to work in the business until the end of the financial year on 30 April 2019.  

As part of the succession planning process, Neil will be succeeded by Jeremy Simpson, who will become Chief Financial Officer on 25 February 2019.  Neil and Jeremy will work together thereafter to complete a smooth handover of responsibilities. 

Jeremy was most recently Chief Financial Officer of Sureserve Group plc (previously Lakehouse plc) from 2014. Qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Young he then moved to KPMG Corporate Finance and, later, to Smiths Group plc.  He subsequently held senior finance roles at Hunting plc and Shanks Group plc, where he joined as UK Finance Director in 2011, before becoming Group Development Director in 2013.  

Commenting on these changes, Wilf Walsh, Chief Executive, said:

"As CFO, Neil has made an outstanding contribution to Carpetright over many years and the Board wishes to express its gratitude for his unstinting commitment to the business, particularly through the recent challenging period of restructuring.  We are delighted that Jeremy is joining us as CFO - he has a strong plc track record and will be able to integrate swiftly into the executive team".

Source : Insight DIY Team and Carpetright

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