Carpetright (CPR) chief executive Wilf Walsh says he "wish he knew" what Brexit means for companies like his. Consumer uncertainty and increased competition mean trading after the period-end has been challenging, as evidenced by a like-for-like sales drop of 7.6 per cent in May, before rebounding 6.3 per cent in June.
Mr Walsh says he is "extremely disappointed on a personal level" about the outcome of the referendum, but the priority is making the business as resilient as possible amidst the uncertainty surrounding the UK's access to the single market. That uncertainty isn't to be underestimated: the group's shares took a major tumble just five days on from the vote.
The market appears to be focused on two concerns. The first is poor consumer confidence in the UK which would hinder underlying sales growth, as well as the fact that Carpetright operates 137 stores across the rest of Europe. During the period, at least, like-for-like sales rose 2.8 per cent in the UK and 4.8 per cent across Europe.
Analysts at Peel Hunt cut adjusted pre-tax profit forecasts for the year to April 2017 from £22.5m to £20.5m, giving EPS of 22.9p (from £17.3m and 19.2p in FY2016).
| CARPETRIGHT (CPR) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 217p | MARKET VALUE: | £147m | |
| TOUCH: | 217-226p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 629p | LOW: 217p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | Nil | PE RATIO: | 15 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 109p* | NET DEBT: | 1.5% | |
| Year to 30 Apr | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 472 | 13.5 | 16.4 | nil |
| 2013 | 458 | -5.1 | -9.8 | nil |
| 2014 | 448 | -7.2 | -5.3 | nil |
| 2015** | 470 | 6.6 | 6.7 | nil |
| 2016 | 457 | 12.8 | 14.9 | nil |
| % change | -3 | +94 | +122 | - |
Ex-div: na Payment: na *Includes intangible assets of £57.1m, or 84p a share **53-week period | ||||
