Group
Group revenue increased 1.4% to £231.2m (H1 FY15: £227.9m) (note 1)
Significant increase in underlying profit before tax, up 34.3% to £9.0m (H1 FY15: £6.7m) (note 2)
Profit before tax up by £0.4m to £7.1m, an increase of 6.0%
Underlying earnings per share increased by 25.0% to 9.5p (H1 FY15: 7.6p)
Net cash position of £4.1m at period end (H1 FY15: £3.2m)
The Group's full year underlying profit expectations are unchanged (note 5)
UK
Like-for-like sales increased by 3.7% (H1 FY15: 6.5%) (notes 6, 7)
Gross profit decline of 70 basis points, in line with guidance, to 61.0% (H1 FY15: 61.7%)
Underlying operating profit up 28.8% to £9.4m (H1 FY15: £7.3m)
Further market share gains
Rest of Europe
Like-for-like sales increased by 5.5% in local currency terms (H1 FY15: decline of 3.3%)
Underlying operating profit improved to £0.6m (H1 FY15: £0.1m)
Operational highlights
Encouraging initial results from four retail concept stores, trialling new shop fit and brand identity
Five new stores opened in the UK during the period, including three concessions
UK store base reduced by net 22 during the period to 438, resulting in a year-on-year space decline of 4.8% with improving profitability
Achieved strong growth in targeted smooth flooring category and launched our first high profile brand collaboration with 'House Beautiful' magazine
Further enhancements to interest free credit offer planned from Boxing Day and into 2016
Store base in Rest of Europe increased by net one, whilst reducing space by 4.5% year-on-year
Commenting on the results, Wilf Walsh, Chief Executive, said:
"I am pleased to be able to report the Group continued its positive like-for-like sales performance and grew profits significantly during the first half. In parallel, we made good further progress with a wide-ranging programme of initiatives to extend the appeal of the Carpetright brand and address significant legacy property issues.
"The trial of a new retail concept and brand identity is, as expected, producing much valuable customer insight. A comprehensive customer research study will be completed by the end of January 2016, giving us a more detailed picture which will inform our decisions on which elements we will roll-out across the existing estate.
"In a retail market which remains very competitive, we are confident that our plan to build on Carpetright's strong foundations, modernise the business, and ensure we capitalise on our advantages as market leader to the full, is on track. Our full year profit expectations remain unchanged."
