Birmingham, England, March 15--Floors 2 Go has reported another year of strong sales growth, with group turnover up 78.3 per cent to £78.8m in the year to the end of December.
The UK's leading specialist retailer of laminate and wooden flooring, which remains in talks with a potential bidder from the private equity sector, warned that it "is bound to feel the effects" of the current tough retail market, but said it is well placed to trade through. Like-for-like sales increased by 22.9 per cent across the year, while operating profit increased 165 per cent to £8.2m.
The year saw 25 new stores opened, net of closures, including 17 concessions in Texstyle World stores in Scotland. With four more stores having opened in the current year, the group now operates 125 outlets.
Simon Farnsworth, chief executive, said: "Floors 2 Go Plc has made great progress in the last year. The pipeline of new sites remains strong and I firmly believe the outlook for the current year is good and that we will see the business continue to grow."
In the first two months of new financial year, overall turnover is up by 17 per cent, with like-for-like sales up by 1 per cent.
With the total laminate and wood flooring market is estimated to be worth £353m, Floors 2 Go has a market share of arround 16.5 per cent. This year will see "an acceleration" towards its target of 350 stores.
The company said that while it "is bound to feel the effects of the current softening in the eneral retail sector reported widely in the media, Floors 2 Go is well positioned to trade through the retail cycle so enhancing our ability to improve market share still further."
Discussions are "progressing" with the private equity organisation which approached Floors 2 Go about a potential takeover in December.
