Rainham, England, February 2—-U.K. Floor coverings group Carpetright reported a "tough" January sale in the UK and Ireland and said trading in all its markets had been subdued.
The group posted a sales increase of 0.5% for the UK and Ireland in the 13 weeks to January 29, although this improvement became a decline of 3.8% when store openings are stripped out, according to the Daily Post.
Chairman and chief executive Lord Harris of Peckham said the company remained confident of picking up market share in the months ahead, but also acknowledged that trading conditions remained "subdued."
He added: "Our UK and Ireland business has had a tough January sale, albeit set against very strong comparatives last year."
Despite the challenging conditions, Carpetright said margins remained healthy and that new stores were also performing well.
In Belgium and the Netherlands, sales in local currency increased by 0.5% while gross margin continued to show good growth.
The group, which Lord Harris established in 1988 after the previous business in which he was involved, Harris Queensway, was taken over, has 412 stores - of which 50 are concessions - and 3,500 staff.
It plans to increase its number of outlets to 450 stores and 100 concessions in the next three to five years.
