THURROCK-based Carpetright, he U.K.’s biggest carpet retailer, sees no respite from the challenging economic environment over the next year reports Bloomberg.
Chairman Philip Harris said: “In the year to April 30, 2011, we continued to experience challenging market conditions with fragile consumer confidence producing a weak floor coverings market,” Harris said today in a regulatory statement. “The Group remained profitable and generated cash, although profits for the year reduced substantially.”
In June, the company said it didn’t expect to see a recovery in British consumer demand for two years as high inflation and stagnant wages leave people with little money to spend. U.K. consumer sentiment fell for a third month in August as households grew more pessimistic about the outlook for Europe’s second-largest economy, a report by GfK NOP Ltd. said Aug. 31.
Carpetright last month reported a 1.5 percent decline in sales for the 12 weeks to July 23.
Carpetright shares fell 0.1 percent to 517 pence at 8:30 a.m. in London giving the Purfleet-based company a market value of 348 million pounds ($555 million).
The stock has fallen 35 percent this year.
