Floor Coverings Specialist Carpetright has said it expects full-year profits to be at the "bottom end" of expectations amid a "volatile and unpredictable" consumer market.

Its comments came as it said profits for the six months to 28 October sank to £0.3m from £4.1m last year.


The chain blamed the lack of consumer confidence, increased competition and discounting for the fall.


Shares in Carpetright dropped by 7.5% on news of the weaker profit outlook.


A softening of the housing market in some areas, pressures on consumer spending from inflation and subdued wage growth have all fed into a weaker performance.
Carpetright chief executive Wilf Walsh said: "The first half has undoubtedly been challenging.


 Consumer confidence remains fragile and we continue to manage the impact of intensified competition."


Despite the fall in half-year profits, like-for-like sales - which strip out the impact of store openings and closures - rose 0.7% in the UK and 6.5% in the rest of Europe.


Mr Walsh added: "We have made pleasing progress in our core flooring business in the UK - like-for-like sales are up, more than half the UK store estate has now been refurbished and our customer service metrics have been improved significantly.




BBC     News.