Flooring retailer Carpetright has seen its pre-tax profits dive as it warned shareholders of “challenging” trading conditions.
In the first half of the year, Carpetright’s bottom line pre-tax profits dropped 92.7 per cent to £300,000, while overall profits after tax were down 58.8 per cent to £2.1 million.
Revenues edged up 2.6 per cent, despite dropping slightly in the UK to £185 million, having been propped up by a 20 per cent rise in European sales to £43 million.
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Despite its chief executive Wilf Walsh hailing “significant strategic progress” amid its full year results in June, the retailer posted a similarly steep 93 per cent drop in pre-tax profits.
Walsh was not as optimistic this half, warning investors that full-year profits are likely to come at the lower end of expectations.
“The first half has undoubtedly been challenging,” he said.
“Consumer confidence remains fragile and we continue to manage the impact of intensified competition.”
“While trading over the first six weeks of the new period has been encouraging, with an acceleration in like-for-like sales growth in both the UK and rest of Europe, in light of the consumer outlook we are taking a more cautious view of the second half and now expect underlying profit before tax for the full year will be towards the bottom end of the current range of market expectations.”
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