CPR.L Regulatory News (CPR)

7 Aug 2007 07:00

Carpetright PLC07 August 2007 Carpetright plc Interim Management Statement Carpetright plc, Europe's leading specialist carpet and floor coverings retailerwith over 650 stores, today publishes its first Interim Management Statement asrequired by the FSA's disclosure and transparency rules. The statement relatesto the first 13 weeks of the new financial year, representing the period 29April to 28 July 2007. We are pleased to announce that, during the first 13 weeks, Group sales(including Storey Carpets Ltd) have increased by 16.7%. In the UK and Republicof Ireland total sales have increased by 16.6%. Carpetright's like-for-likesales have increased by 2.4% with the gross margin increasing by over 1%. Trading in Belgium and the Netherlands has also been strong with total salesincreasing by 15.6% and like-for-like sales up 13.4%. Poland continues to tradein line with expectations. On 1 May 2007 the Group acquired Storey Carpets Ltd ("Storeys") for an initialconsideration of £18.5m. During the period Storeys' sales have been in linewith expectations while gross margin has improved significantly against theprevious year. Lord Harris of Peckham, Chairman and Chief Executive, said: "The Group has had a solid start to the year and continues to gain market share.We are particularly pleased with the performance of our European businesses.Storeys is an excellent acquisition for the Group and we look forward tocontinued expansion of the brand in the north of England. We still expect achallenging retail environment and will continue to cut costs in the business,relocate to smaller stores where appropriate and focus on cash generation." For further enquiries please contact: Carpetright plcIan Kenyon, Group Finance Director 01708 525522 Citigate Dewe RogersonKevin Smith / Fiona Mulcahy 020 7638 9571 7 August 2007 Carpetright plc Interim Management Statement 2007/2008 2006/2007 Store Base - Numbers 28 July 28 April 28 October 2007 2007 2006UK & RoI Large 374 374 367 Small 66 65 64 Concessions 72 73 63 Storeys 31 - - 543 512 494 Rest of Europe Belgium 28 28 28 The Netherlands 75 75 70 Poland 7 6 3 110 109 101 Group Total 653 621 595 2007/2008 2006/2007 Store Space (knsf) 28 July 28 April 28 October 2007 2007 2006UK & RoI Large 3,573 3,601 3,591 Small 334 329 320 Concessions 155 154 146 Storeys 345 - - 4,407 4,084 4,057Rest of Europe Belgium 347 347 347 The Netherlands 898 903 854 Poland 72 63 35 1,317 1,313 1,236Group Total 5,724 5,397 5,293 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange