London, England, July 19, 2006--United Carpets Group plc, a chain of specialist retail carpet and floor cover stores in the UK, reported a drop in pretax profit for the year to end-March after reducing its opening program, according to AFX News.
Profit before tax for the year was 1.02 mln stg, down from 2.03 mln a year earlier. Turnover was 17.6 mln stg, up from 15.1 mln with positive like for like sales up 2.8 pct against the prior year.
Since the end of March, like for like sales have strengthened further and are up 8.7 pct, the company added.
Chief executive Paul Eyre said this year saw fewer store openings than had originally been expected and tougher trading conditions than the previous year. 'In light of this, our performance has been more than creditable. The second half was strong, and this growth in sales has continued into the current reporting period,' he said.
Eyre said the business fundamentals remain strong and the group is well positioned to continue rolling out its franchise concept.
The group has reviewed its store opening programme to reflect changes in the market. Currently, it has 60 stores clustered around the target areas of northern and central England, with a further six stores planned to open in the coming months.
The group said it will continue to open stores where appropriate and has increased its investment in recruitment of franchisees and further developed its selection policies of both potential sites and franchisees. Whilst this may impact on the projected number of store openings, the board said it is convinced that these measures will improve the quality of the franchise network to the long-term benefit of the group.
Chairman Peter Cowgill concluded: "The company is in a strong financial position and the outlook for the future is positive."
