United Carpets sees small profit improvement

United Carpets, the UK carpet retailer with 57 stores saw profits rise to £1.53m from £1.49 million in the year to 31 March, whilst like-for-like sales grew by 1.3%. Total revenue including marketing/rental costs recharged to franchisees fell slightly to £21.2m compared to £21.4m last year. The reduction reflects a decrease in the average number of corporate stores during the year compared to the prior year, which was largely offset by increased activity through United Carpets’ warehousing division.

By the end of March 2017, the company had 57 stores of which 50 were franchised and seven were corporate.

United Carpets CEO Paul Eyre, said: "These results show a modest improvement on the prior year together with a positive like-for-like performance up 1.3%. This is a creditable result against a backdrop of increasing economic uncertainty which has tended to damage consumer confidence. We have been helped by the resilience of our franchise model together with the strength of our core customer offering of providing great quality products at attractive price points."

The company said like-for-like sales for the 15 weeks since the period end to 13 July have been "slightly positive," despite a significant increase in marketing activity.

Peter Cowgill, United Carpets chairman, said: "The market environment continues to be unsettled. The recent general election has done little to change that and the process of Brexit is likely to create ongoing fluctuations in consumer confidence.

"This adds a note of caution to the board's outlook for the business but nevertheless, we expect the group to continue to develop and pursue expansion opportunities on a selective basis and retain its core focus on its customer offering of providing great quality products at attractive price points."

Source: Insight DIY Team

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