Carpetright in talks with lenders amid warning over annual loss

Carpetright has warned it is set to swing to a full-year loss and said it has started talks with its lenders as the woes in the retail sector show no sign of letting up.

In its second profit warning in less than two months, the firm said trading has remained under pressure, with like-for-like sales still falling despite a small improvement since January.

It has kicked off talks with its lenders to ensure it does not breach the terms of its bank loans and is looking at options to speed up a trading turnaround, although it said plans were at an "early stage".

The warning comes in a dire week for the retail sector after the collapse of Toys R Us and Maplin on Wednesday, which has threatened thousands of jobs.

Carpetright said: "Although the important Easter trading period is still to come, UK like-for-like sales remain below management expectations and the group now expects to report a small underlying pre-tax loss for the year ending 28 April 2018."

Carpetright said its lenders had signalled they remain "fully supportive".