ALY.L Share News (ALY)

Laura Ashley fans are increasingly going online to buy the firm's products, a trend that has contributed to a strong first half to the year in which all of the group's product categories registered year on year like for like growth.Total group sales in the six months to the end of July were up 5.7% to £135.1m from £127.8m a year earlier.The improvement in the homewares and fashion retailer's sales was largely driven by online sales and a good performance by the UK shops.Total UK retail sales rose 5.5% to £121.6m, with like for like (LFL) sales up 6.2% year on year. E-commerce sales were up 63.0% to £15.4m from £9.4m, while UK store sales improved by 1.6% to £103.1m from £101.5m the year before, despite retail space being cut back by 2.3% as a result of the closure of six stores. The UK retail chain now numbers 225 shops.Profit before taxation, including gains from exceptional items, was £10.5m, a sharp increase from £1.1m a year earlier. With exceptional items excluded profit before tax was £5.7m (2009: £0.1m).The exceptional gain of £4.8m this year primarily relates to the sale and leaseback of the company's Bardon warehouse.The increase in sales did not come at the expense of margins, though the recovery of sterling played its part in the improvement of the gross margin by 1.4 percentage points. The negative overall impact of foreign exchange movements reduced to £1.8m from £5.5m last year.Furniture sales for the reporting period increased by 7.8% (LFL +9.2%) over the same period last year. Home Accessories sales increased by 5.0% (LFL +5.2%) year on year, while Decorating sales rose 6.3% (LFL +7.1%). Despite facing some tough comparatives, Fashion sales increased by 4.2% (LFL +1.6%) over the same period last year, the company said.The second half of the year has seen continued growth. For the 31 weeks to 4 September 2010, total UK retail sales increased by 4.5%. For the same period, LFL UK retail sales was up by 4.9%.Cash at the end of July was £31.2m, boosted by £12.3m from the sale and leaseback of the group's Bardon warehouse.The interim dividend has been increased to 0.5p from 0.25p.