Alex Ralph Originally Published in "The Times Newspaper"at 12:01AM, March 28 2014

The Welsh retailer whose floral prints evoke Victorian England is to open websites in France and Germany to try to overturn a slowdown in annual online sales.

Laura Ashley reported a fall in profit before tax and exceptional items from £20.1 million to £19.3 million in the year to January 25 after like-for-like sales dipped 0.4 per cent.

The shares rose sharply, however, after the company said that sales had risen 2 per cent in the first two months of the year and the dividend was increased from 2p to 3.5p.

Seán Anglim, the chief financial officer, said that online sales had increased by 20 per cent in its British retail business in 2012, but that online sales were “broadly flat” last year.

“Over the last four or five years we’ve seen this [online] grow extremely well, he said. “We know there are enhancements we need to make.”

Laura Ashley offers customers a click-and-collect service, which is one of the fastest growing areas of the retail sector. Mr Anglim said that the company could do more to improve the way customers navigate the website.

Overseas markets are a key opportunity for the retailer, he said. A local language and currency website will open next month in France, where it has reduced its stores from 24 to 5, and in Germany, where it will return in the third quarter.

Cle France says this is great news for Ex Pats living in France and should cut down on delivery costs when ordering from the UK. This would have perfect when I lived in Haute-Vienne department of Limousin especially for the soft furnishings and even during our last 12 year stint in the Mayenne department near to Lassay-les-Chateaux in the region of Pays de la Loire it would have been welcoming.

But will it confuse the 'French interiors' design the Brits go for and instead be picked up by the young French who love all things 'Anglais'?

Blog submitted by: Sharon at The French Property Network - Cle France.