London, England, October 24, 2006--Carpetright, Britain's biggest carpet retailer, said on Tuesday that sales in the UK and Ireland rose by 5.9 percent in the first half of its financial year, with same store sales revenues up 0.3 percent.
It also said sales in the rest of Europe rose 9.1 percent overall, while like-for-like sales increased by 3.6 percent.
"We are pleased with our overall sales performance in the UK and Republic of Ireland and we have improved gross margins by at least 2 percent," the company said in a statement.
"We have continued to expand our store base and are well placed to take advantage of improving markets."
The company said it had opened 60 stores in the UK and Ireland and closed seven, taking the total outlet numbers to 493. Additionally, it opened two stores in the Netherlands and one in Poland, taking the group total to 594.
