London, England, April 26--Carpet retailer Carpetright blamed weak consumer demand for a sharp downturn in sales in the past six months.
Like-for-like store sales fell 5.9% in the 25 weeks to April in its UK and Republic of Ireland businesses, with total sales down by 3.8%. Gross margins improved by 0.9 percentage points compared with last year.
"Our UK and Republic of Ireland business has had a difficult half within a weakening consumer environment and set against strong comparatives last year," chairman Lord Harris said.
Sales in Belgium and the Netherlands also declined, dipping by 0.6% in local currency terms compared with last year.
