Airea reports year of progress

The Wakefield-based company's carpets are popular with rock stars and footballers, while its commercial business, Burmatex, fits out larger buildings ranging from schools to office blocks.

In the year ended June 30, revenue fell by 10.1m to 30.9m. Of this decline, around 6.5m was attributable to the exit from loss-making contracts and the withdrawal of products as part of the rationalisation of its domestic product range.

Of the remaining business, sales to the residential sector fell by 14.8 per cent and to the contract sector by 6.7 per cent.

The operating result before exceptional items was a profit of 900,000 compared to a loss of 500,000 in the same period last year.

In a statement, the company said: "It still remains to be seen what the long term effect of UK public sector expenditure cuts will have on the UK economy as a whole, and UK demand for household goods in particular.

"However, we remain optimistic but prudent in terms of strict control of cash resources. The board have concluded that it would not be appropriate to propose a final dividend, but remains committed to introducing a progressive dividend policy when circumstances allow."