The carpet and floorcoverings retailer announced LFL sales in its UK operations were up “significantly” in Q4, as customer confidence in the business started to return following the group’s restructuring last year.

In the financial update for the 12 weeks ended April 20, 2019, Carpetright said overall trading performance in the period was “in line with expectations”. As well as an upward sales trend in the UK, the retailer was pleased to report that trading in the rest of Europe has continued to track ahead of the same period last year, driven by a strong performance in the Netherlands.

It’s good news for the retailer, which saw its performance dented by the ongoing recovery plan and said it expected trading to be heavily impacted by disruption, as it downsized its portfolio, closing around 65 UK stores.

Carpetright chief executive Wilf Walsh said: “This has been a transitional year for Carpetright and we remain on track both with our recovery plan and our strategic initiatives. The actions taken are driving improvement, particularly in the invested store estate, and the brand remains strong.  Whilst consumer confidence remains challenged in the UK, the work we have done to reposition the business is starting to deliver the benefits necessary to put Carpetright back on the path to sustainable profitability.” 

Carpetright added that the business remains on target to achieve previously-announced cash savings of £19million.  

The business will announce its full-year results for the 52 weeks ended April 27, 2019 in June.