It’s Carpetfright as sales floored
Chain battling to survive after £70m annual loss
CARPETRIGHT has crashed to a £70million loss.
Sales dived last year and debts rocketed as some suppliers refused to sell to the flooring chain amid concerns over its future.
The retailer has already responded by announcing plans to close more than 80 stores.
And bosses admit recent hot weather has only helped to dent demand further.
Last year’s loss – from a £900,000 profit in 2016 – was fuelled by the company slashing the value of certain assets because of its tough trading.
Group sales fell 3% to £443.8million. And UK takings down 3.6% over the year disguise the fact up 28.1 that the decline worsened from a 0.7% drop in the first six months to a 7.8% full-on dive in the second half. Carpetright’s results come after it pushed through a Company Voluntary Agreement to shut 81 stores.
The closure programme, which is due to be completed by the end of September, will lead to the loss of hundreds of jobs. Debts jumped from £9.8m to £53m, which Carpetright said was due to at 7537.9 GKN GlaxoSmithKline Halfords Hays HSBC Imperial Brands International Airlines Grp ITV Kingfisher Land Securities Legal & General Lloyds Marks & Spencer Morrison National Grid Next Old Mutual Pearson Prudential Reckitt Benckiser RELX 482.4 1505.0 351.0 181.4 708.0 2706.0 Oil +6.6 +4.0 +6.4 +0.8 +5.7 -7.0 673.2 -24.6 175.9 -1.1 300.0 -0.9 951.2 +0.9 265.0 +0.8 61.4 +0.2 298.7 +3.2 248.2 +0.6 832.9 +2.1 6106.0+144.0 210.9 0.0 859.4 -2.8 1758.0 +14.0 6181.0+103.0 1578.0 -23.5 = $76.00 Rentokil Initial Rio Tinto Rolls-Royce Royal Mail RSA RBS J Sainsbury SSE Severn Trent Serco Sports Direct Shell Sky Smith & Nephew Smiths WH Stagecoach Standard Chartered Standard Life Aberdeen TalkTalk Taylor Wimpey Tesco suppliers “tightening their credit terms”. Boss Wilf Walsh said: “This will be a transitional year for the group as we work through our recovery plan.” Shares in Carpetright dived another 5.6% to less than 29p yesterday, having collapsed more than 80% in the past year. Paul Hickman, analyst at Edison Investment Research, said: “Like a man reeling from a precipice, Carpetright’s full-year results give a dizzying glimpse over the edge.” Matthew Walton, analyst at GlobalData, said: “With little momentum in the housing market, and customers remaining cautious, it will take time for Carpetright to reap the benefits. But with losses mounting, time is not on its side.” 345.0 4106.0 930.0 501.2 671.8 257.6 306.0 1348.5 1945.5 99.5 404.0 2654.5 1436.5 1392.5 2036.0 135.9 690.9 333.7 108.1 179.4 257.2 -3.2 +63.5 +14.0 +9.2 +2.6 +0.5 -6.9 +6.5 +16.5 +2.3 +2.7 +30.5 +21.5 +6.0 -4.0 +2.8 -1.9 -1.9 -3.1 +1.1 -3.9 Thomas Cook Unilever United Utilities Vodafone Reach PLC 107.0 4131.0 759.2 182.6 79.1 -1.5 +17.0 +8.2 -1.6 +1.6