Laura Ashley's first half profit rises

British fashion and homewares retailer Laura Ashley Holdings Plc reported a 14 percent rise in profit for the first half of the fiscal year, boosted by sales of home accessories.

The company, which has shifted its focus from its well known floral prints clothing to home furnishings, said pretax profit excluding exceptional items rose to 8.3 million pounds ($13.33 million) from 7.3 million pounds a year earlier.

Like-for-like sales in the UK were up 4 percent during the 26 weeks to July 28.

The company, whose UK business is split in furniture, home accessories, decorating and fashion categories, said home accessories sales from stores open for at least a year grew 10 percent.

The company's shares, which have risen over 14 percent this year, closed at 22.87 pence on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday.