£71m loss floors Carpetright stock

Carpetright’s shares were floored after it swung to a £70.5m loss last year.

shares dropped nearly 6pc after sales dipped and it flopped from a £900,000 profit a year earlier.

Despite a 3.6pc decline in sales in the year to april 28, purchases of hard flooring surged 9.2pc as more customers looked for more durable alternatives to carpets.

Chief executive Wilf Walsh said Carpetright is aiming for hard-wearing products like laminate and vinyl to make up 40pc of its flooring business. Currently it makes up just 14pc of sales.

it recently launched tegola, a luxury vinyl tile business which it says is ‘an affordable alternative’ to solid wood or stone flooring.

Walsh said: ‘We’re representing ourselves as the flooring specialists, not just the carpet specialists.’

the strategy overhaul comes after Carpetright launched a restructuring procedure which will see it close 81 of its least profitable stores and get rent reductions on more than 100 others.

Walsh said the firm was also cutting down on beds sold through its sleepright business which accounts for 9pc of turnover. shares in the company fell 5.7pc, or 1.7p, yesterday to 28.3p.