The company has said that its store base has increased to 658 stores during the same period. Carpetright's UK and Republic of Ireland business, including Storeys, has recorded a total sales increase of 9.8%. Like-for-like sales (which excludes Storeys) have declined by 0.8% while gross margin has increased by over 1%. The rest of Europe (Belgium, The Netherlands and Poland) has recorded a total sales increase of 13.8% with like-for-like sales up by 8.1%. Within the UK and Republic of Ireland 21 stores have opened and 17 stores have closed taking the total number of stores to 546 including 32 Storeys stores. Across the rest of Europe, the group has opened two stores in Poland and one in The Netherlands taking the total to 112 stores. Lord Harris, chairman and chief executive, said: "We are pleased with our overall performance across the group particularly in Europe. I believe that our market share is increasing in all our markets. Trading conditions in the UK and RoI remain uncertain but we are continuing to offer our customers outstanding value, through strong promotions, and we will continue to cut costs where possible, relocate to smaller stores where appropriate and focus on cash generation."