Carpetright Profits on The Rise

London, England, Dec. 15, 2009--A recovery in housing markets in Britain and Ireland has increased profits at Carpetright, although the company said it would still pull out of its Polish operations, while remaining committed to its Dutch and Belgian businesses.

Carpetright has been selling on average 118 miles of four-meter wide carpet a week in the UK in the past six months.

For the six months ending in October, pre-tax profit jumped 15 percent on revenues that rose 9 percent.

The company said that its sales correlate with mortgage approvals, which are nearly double last year's total.

Carpetright opened 39 new stores in the six months to the end of October but closed 18, to give net new growth of 21 stores.

Outside of the UK, the company said it was happy with its growing market share in Belgium and the Netherlands.