Headlam sees rise in LFL sales in November

20th Nov 2009 00:49

Floor coverings distributor Headlam group said the decline in like for like sales has slowed in the second half of the year in the UK operations.After reporting an 8.2% year on year like for like UK sales decline in the first half of 2009, the company saw the year on year fall narrow to 7.5% in the first ten months of the year. Taking just the four months in the second half of the year, like for like sales were down 3% year on year.Overall, revenue from UK operations dipped 8.4% to £356.54m from £389.29m the year before.Like for like sales in continental Europe were down 10% in the January to October period, versus a 9.7% fall in the first half of 2009, but currency effects and the contribution from Silvester, the Dutch residential business acquired in October 2008, lifted the overall performance to an increase of 5.9%.Business in France has seen a small uplift in the second half of the year but the Netherlands and Switzerland continue on a downward parth.Group revenue as a total fell 5.9% to £442.51m from £470.50m a year ago.'Trading during November to date, in the UK, appears to be a continuance of the recent trend with revenue up by 0.5% compared with the comparable period last year and therefore, the board remains confident that their expectations for 2009 should be achieved,' the company said.