UK's Carpetright Sees Q4 Sales Decline

London, England, April 28, 2009--Carpetright, Britain's biggest carpet retailer, posted a sharp fall in fourth-quarter sales but said it was winning market share and sale should pick up later in 2009 as the housing market recovers.

"The market remains very, very tough, (but) there's no question we're gaining market share in a market that's shrunk somewhere between 20 and 25 percent," CEO Philip Harris said in a conference call with analysts.

"The recent trend in UK mortgage approvals is improving and we would expect to begin to see this benefit in our sales later in the year," he said.

Shares in Carpetright have lost a quarter of their value over the last year but have gained 44 percent over the last three months.

Harris said that Carpetright was close to winning some significant insurance business from rivals.

He was also optimistic that Carpetright would pick-up market share given up by the UK's second-largest flooring retailer Allied Carpets, which was acquired by private equity company Sigma last month.

"What I'm told is they're probably going to close 60 to 70 shops. If they do that it will make our position stronger," he said.

Carpetright, which issued a profit warning in December, said sales at stores in the UK and Ireland open more than a year fell 15.3 percent over the 12 weeks to April 25, having fallen 15.9 percent in the third quarter.