Carpetright profits slump 70%

Carpetright slashed its final dividend as profits tumbled by more than 70% last year, with the carpet retailer warning its sees no upturn for at least 12 months.Pre-tax profit in the year to end April crashed by 72% to £16.7m, from £59.5m, on sales of £483m down by 7.4%.The UK & Ireland bore the brunt of the downturn with sales down by nearly 13% and profit down by 73% to £15.6m. The continental Europe businesses fared better, lifting profits by a third to £7.2m."Our principal markets of UK & RoI are in recession and the likelihood is that with unemployment set to rise, the housing market will remain weak. Although there have been a significant number of actions taken by the overnment to improve the economy, we do not expect a return to more normal trading conditions for at least 12 months," chairman and chief executive Lord Harris said. The final dividend is chopped from 30p to 4p making a total for the year of 8p, against 52p.