Carpetright reports slide in profits

The business, which has 584 stores in the UK and Ireland, added that it remained cautious about conditions over the rest of this financial year and into 2011 after sales fell 4 per cent to 248m in the six months to October 30.

Despite the slide in underlying profits to 10m, chairman and chief executive Lord Harris of Peckham said Carpetright was in a strong position to deliver sales growth when consumer demand in the sector returns.

Total revenues in the UK and Ireland declined by 2.7 per cent to 207.6m, with the figure down by 6.1 per cent on a like-for-like basis.

Underlying operating profits in the UK and Ireland fell by a third to 9.6m, it added.

As well as fragile consumer confidence, Carpetright said sales of big-ticket, housing-related items were impacted by a low level of mortgage approvals.

Matthew McEachran, a retail analyst at Singer Capital Markets, said today's figures were in line with expectations, although he highlighted concerns about the impact of recent weather conditions on trading figures.

He added: "We expect the snow to have had an adverse effect in recent weeks and whether or not this can be clawed back over the peak trading season remains to be seen."