Carpetright's sales boosted by cold weather

Carpetright, Britain's biggest floor coverings retailer, said cold spring weather drove drive up sales at its UK arm.

The company, which makes about 80 percent of its sales in Britain, said on Tuesday that like-for like sales at UK stores rose 5.6 percent in the 12 weeks to April 20.

Carpetright's efforts to refurbish its shops and expand its laminate floor and bed ranges have helped the company to attract shoppers over the past year despite tough trading conditions caused by a squeeze on consumers' disposable incomes.

"Whilst the recent cold spring weather has been positive to our sales, we believe this performance reflects the continued success of our programme of self-help initiatives," Chief Executive Darren Shapland said.

Shapland said the company saw a gross profit percentage improvement on margins for the year in the range of 225-250 basis points above the prior year.

However, like-for-like sales in Carpetright's Europe division - made up of Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands - fell 10.2 percent, dragged down by weak trading in the Netherlands, the company said.

For the full trading update please visit our Industry Articles pages: http://www.insightdiy.co.uk/articles.asp

Source : Yahoo Finance
http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/cold-weather-uk-boosts-carpetrights-063622048.html