South Yorkshire, England, December 28, 2006--United Carpets reported a strong half-year performance today and said underlying sales have further improved since the end of September, rising by 13%, according to the Guardian Unlimited.
The specialist carpet and floor coverings retailer said like-for-like sales climbed by 11.6% in the six months to September while total sales were up 17.4% to £8.97m. Pre-tax profits grew by 6.8% to £406,000.
Chief executive Peter Eyre said the group's performance was lifted by a slightly improved trading environment as well as the introduction of new franchisees into the business.
Floor coverings, mainly carpets, laminate and vinyl flooring, make up the bulk of the group's business and posted a 12.9% improvement in like-for-like sales.
The resurgent housing market, improved stores and increased advertising all helped lift sales.
Mr Eyre admitted the group's beds business is not performing to its potential, as it posted a 0.8% sales increase.
He said the management team are working closely with franchisees to better integrate the sales of beds with floor coverings, reviewing the sales space allocated to beds and training sales staff.
The firm began the financial year with 60 stores and that number is unchanged, but it addressed poor performance by either changing franchisees or closing stores, and opened three new stores.
United Carpets will roll out its franchise concept in the second half of the year. Its portfolio currently comprises 12 company-owned stores and 48 franchisees.
Richard Ratner at Seymour Pierce said: "The strategy of putting 'its own house in order', rather than expanding too quickly, has begun to pay off."
He noted that the like-for-like sales performance was much better than that of the market leader, Carpetright, and the industry as a whole, which is estimated to be down.
