Carpetright Profit Warning Sends Stock Plunging

London, England, March 24, 2010--UK flooring firm Carpetright issued a profits warning that wiped 11 percent off its market value.

The UK's biggest floor covering retailer warned that its underlying sales had not recovered as expected after the snow melted from recent storms.

Carpetright is seen as a bellwether of consumer spending. Lord Harris of Peckham, the chairman and chief executive of Carpetright, has said on numerous occasions that it is typically "first in, first out" of a recession.

Carpetright's UK sales for the 26 weeks to Oct. 31 were up 3.9%, its strongest first-half performance since 2004. But the market leader said this growth had slowed to 1.4 percent in the seven weeks to March 20.

Carpetright's underlying sales in the rest of Europe grew by 1.6 percent over the seven-week period.