Carpetright sales bounce back

3rd Feb 2010 07:08

Sales of carpets bounced back strongly in the run-up to Christmas at Carpetright, helping the group to lift sales overall by 7% despite problems with cold weather. UK and Ireland were the star turns with the sales in the 13 weeks to January up 7.7%, with like-for-like sales up 2.3%. A net four stores opened, increasing the total to 5,942.Continental Europe was weaker, with the Netherlands and Belgium's total sales down 5.1% with like-for-like sales down 3.7%. After allowing for exchange rates, this translated to a total sales growth of 5.4%."In the UK, trading in the early part of the quarter was strong and we experienced double digit like for like growth. The severe weather conditions post-Christmas impacted the final weeks of the quarter but we are hopeful of recovering some of this lost trade in the coming weeks," chairman and chief executive Lord Harris said."Whilst we remain cautious about our market in the balance of the financial year, we continue our drive for sustained growth and our expectations for the full year are unchanged," he added.