Carpetright unfurls to a loss in 'transitional year'

The specialist retailer recorded an underlying pre-tax loss of £12.4m in the 26 weeks to October 27 from a profit of £1.2m during the same period the previous year.

Overall revenue slid 15.7% year-on-year to £191.1m while UK like-for-likes dropped 12.7%.

Carpetright attributed its decline in UK sales to “challenges around stock availability, negative sentiment associated with the restructuring process and weak consumer demand”, and noted that its first-quarter like for likes were down 16.8% while in the second quarter this decline nearly halved to 8.9%.

The specialist retailer’s like for likes across Europe edged up 0.5% during the period.

The retailer, which closed UK 65 stores during the period after winning approval for its CVA, is on track to deliver £19m in annualised cost savings during the year.

Carpetright also reduced its average store lease length to 3.5 years during the period, with approximately half of its store providing the option to break the lease within two years.

Chief executive Wilf Walsh said: “This is a transitional year for Carpetright as we work through our restructuring plan.

“We remain on schedule and are confident that this activity is already starting to yield benefits. This is the first stage in returning the group to sustainable long-term profitability.”