SHARES in Allied Carpets hit the floor yesterday after the company warned that trading had deteriorated recently and that, in particular, the Easter and first Bank Holiday in May were substantially below expectations.
Some 47p, or 34%, was knocked off the shares which closed at 89p compared with the 182p high for the past 12 months.
Carpetright shares followed Allied and slipped 23p to 337p.
Allied's managing director Ray Nethercott said that the further one went north in Britain the tougher the business was and the 26 General George stores in Scotland are experiencing the worst trading in the group.
He said that 1998 had started well with like-for-like sales in January ahead by 11%. Progress had slowed but the business was still growing by about 3% until the third week in March. However, Easter was a disaster due to the floods.
Allied had then hoped that the Bank Holiday in early May would help pull back some of the business ''but it did not happen''.
Nethercott said that the increase in interest and mortgage rates and the impact of the high pound on manufacturing were the major factors.
The City is expecting full-year profits to decline from #16.7m to about #13m and advance to only #14m in the next financial year.
However, the company is continuing its store expansion programme with 26 openings this year and 20 next with some 35% of the carpet market still untapped.
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