23 Mar 2010 07:00

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Carpetright plc
Trading Update
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Carpetright plc, Europe's leading specialist carpet and floor coverings retailer, today announces a trading update for the 7 weeks ended 20 March 2010. The pace of recovery seen towards the end of 2009 has not been sustained and whilst Group profits (for the year to 1 May 2010) will be considerably ahead of last year, they are likely to fall below current market expectations.
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| 7 weeks to 20 March 2010 | 13 weeks to 30 Jan 2010 (previously stated) | 26 weeks to 31 October 2009 (previously stated) |
| Group Sales | 4.9% | 7.0% | 9.0% |
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| UK & RoI |
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| - Total | 6.5% | 7.7% | 9.6% |
| - Like-for-like | 1.4% | 2.3% | 3.9% |
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| Rest of Europe (continuing businesses) | |||
| - Total (in GBP) | (1.7%) | 5.4% | 6.6% |
| - Total (in constant currency) | 0.6% | (5.1%) | (3.9%) |
| - Like-for-like (in constant currency) | 1.6% | (3.7%) | (3.9%) |
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Lord Harris of Peckham, Chairman and Chief Executive, said:
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"As we reported in our last trading statement, poor weather in the UK after Christmas severely affected the final weeks trading in our third quarter. Nevertheless, based on previous experience we expected to recover some of this lost trade in the remaining weeks of the year. It is now clear that recent like for like sales growth, while remaining positive, has not returned to pre-Christmas levels and the recovery from weak trading in January has not been as significant as expected.
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"Our businesses in The Netherlands and Belgium continue to trade well."
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Carpetright will make its usual year end pre-close update on trading on Wednesday, 28 April 2010.
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Analyst conference call
Lord Harris and Neil Page will host a conference call for analysts at 8:30am
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The dial in number is 0800 028 1243 with the passcode 2774662
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Thereafter, for further enquiries please contact:
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Carpetright plc
Lord Harris of Peckham, Chairman and Chief Executive
Neil Page, Group Finance Director
Tel: 01708 802000
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Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Kevin Smith / Angharad Couch / Lindsay Noton
Tel: 020 7638 9571
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A copy of this trading statement will be available on our website www.carpetright.plc.uk today from 7.00am
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Notes
1. All sales figures are quoted after deducting VAT.
2. Like-for-like sales represent sales from stores which have been trading for 52 weeks at the start of the financial year. It includes the sales of beds, where these have been introduced into the like-for-like store base since the acquisition of Sleepright in December 2008.
3. The Group will announce an update on trading for the 12 weeks to 24 April 2010 on Wednesday 28 April 2010.
4. There have been no significant changes to the Group's financial position during the period.
5. Certain statements in this report are forward looking. Although the Group believes that the expectations reflected in these forward looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to have been correct. Because these statements contain risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update any forward looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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