Carpetright in another profit warning as trade ebbs away
CARPETRIGHT, Britain’s biggest floor covering retailer, warned on profits for the second time in as many months yesterday, as shoppers hold back on expensive purchases amid rising bills and government cuts.
The group, which trades from around 700 stores in Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium, said profit before tax and one-off items for the year to 30 April would be broadly in line with 2008-9’s figure of £17.2m.
It had said in February it expected profits to be above that level, but below 2009-10’s £28.2m.
Rod Whitehead of Deutsche Bank said: “The news is not that surprising in the light of continuing very low housing transactions and the profit warning from Dixons, which shows weak consumer confidence.”