United Carpets Group plc Trading Statement (6754C)
February 12 2020 - 1:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMUCG
RNS Number : 6754C
United Carpets Group plc
12 February 2020
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES
OF ARTICLE 7 OF REGULATION (EU) 596/2014 (MAR). ON PUBLICATION OF
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE
IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
12 February 2020
UNITED CARPETS GROUP plc
("the Group" or "the Company" or "United Carpets"),
Trading Update
United Carpets Group plc (AIM: UCG) the third largest chain of
specialist retail carpet and floor covering stores in the UK,
announces the following trading update for the year ending 31 March
2020.
Disappointingly, there does not appear to have been any uplift
in trading following the decisive result in the General Election
and the retail environment has continued to be challenging. As
announced, in our Interim Results in December 2019, trading in the
key quarter leading up to the Christmas period was comparatively
poor, reflecting weakened consumer confidence and making the
outcome for the full-year vulnerable to any further market
weakness.
While total sales for the Group are expected to be significantly
ahead of the prior year, driven by the Group's new instalment
payment channel, like for like sales, from the store network, for
the 8 weeks since the announcement of the half-year results were
-5.7%. The new instalment payment channel has, in the Board's
opinion, significant future potential, however, start-up and higher
than anticipated servicing costs has meant it will not be
profitable in the current year.
Current market conditions are very competitive as all retailers
compete for every sale leading to aggressive discounting and we
have acted to provide increased support for our franchise network.
The combination of these factors means that the Board now expects
profit before tax for the full year to be below current market
expectations of GBP0.5m and in the range of GBP0.15m to GBP0.20m
(before non-cash costs associated with IFRS16).
Importantly, United Carpets remains a well-positioned business
with a strong brand and well established, predominantly franchised,
store network. The Company has significant cash balances and
virtually no debt, creating a platform that together with its
experienced management team means it is well placed to benefit from
any upturn in market conditions.
Enquiries:
United Carpets Group plc
Paul Eyre, Chief Executive
Ian Bowness, Finance Director 01709 732 666
Cantor Fitzgerald Europe (NOMAD and Broker)
Rick Thompson
Michael Boot 020 7894 7000
Novella Communications Ltd
Tim Robertson
Fergus Young 020 3151 7008
The person responsible for arranging the release of this
information is Ian Bowness, Finance Director of the Company
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
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END
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