Courts warns on impact of strong pound

Courts, the international furniture and electrical retailer, warned that the impact of the strong pound would have a greater effect in the second half of the financial year as it unveiled a 1.6 per cent rise in profits for the first six months.

For the six months to September it made pounds 9.71m, up from pounds 9.56m, on a 16.6 per cent increase in turnover from continuing operations to pounds 210m from pounds 180m. The company proposed a dividend of 1.05p, up 5 per cent. If September 1996 exchange rates from had been used to translate the half- year's figures, turnover would have been higher by pounds 14.1m and pre-tax profits by pounds 1.3m.