United Carpets rolls out positive first half

It was a positive start to the year for United Carpets, with the retailer marking first half results on Friday.

The AIM-listed retailer - the UK's second largest chain of specialist carpet and floor covering stores - announced its interim results for the six months to 30 September.

Its network sales were up on the corresponding period last year, from £25.6m to £27.1m. Revenue was up too, from £9.1m to £10.1m.

Underlying operating profit improved by 15% to £583,000, and profit before tax was up 10.1% to £588,000.

"The period under review has been characterised by improvements to revenue and profitability across the group", said chief executive Paul Eyre.

"We continue to benefit from a reasonable market environment which has improved the returns we have made from our 61-strong portfolio of stores."

Looking forward, Eyre said the generally improving trend in consumer confidence and the housing sector looked positive for the group's long term prospects.

At 14:35 GMT, shares in United Carpets were up 3.19% to 12.13p.

The company announced an interim dividend of 0.125p per share, payable on 22 January 2016.