United Carpets issued a pained final results statement for the year to October 5th, stating that the period had been "extremely challenging".

The group suffered a £2.6m loss for the period, as exceptional costs of £3m followed on from impairment costs and expenses associated with store closures. Like-for-like sales across the group were down by 1 per cent.

Revenues came in at £41.5m for the period, with pre-tax profits ahead of exceptionals at £0.4m.

Shares in the carpeting specialist were suspended from trading on Aim last August, as the company was unable to issue financial results within the timeframe specified by Aim rules. Following this statement, the board now expects trading to be resumed.

A number of United Carpets franchises were terminated over the past year due to harsh trading conditions, which the group attempted to mitigate by investing in new technology to measure footfall and marketing effectiveness.

Chief executive officer Paul Eyre said the year of re-evaluation of the group's business model had been a necessary step. The company is now re-aligning central costs with a reduced operating base.

"While we are not anticipating an uplift in the market conditions in the near term, the group is now better placed to benefit from an improvement in future market conditions," said Eyre.

JF

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