Pre-Close Trading Statement

MFI Furniture Group PLC
01 December 2005



                            MFI Furniture Group Plc

                          Pre-Close Trading Statement

1 December 2005

MFI today announces its scheduled pre-close update including information on
current trading.

>   Howden Joinery has traded well through its peak Autumn period with total
    sales for the second half to date up 8 per cent on the same period last year
    and 4 per cent on a same store basis. The trading environment has, however, 
    become increasingly demanding and is expected to remain so.

>   UK Retail continues to experience tough market conditions. Orders in the
    last eight weeks to 26 November 2005 show a year on year decrease of 15 per
    cent, compared to the 31 per cent decrease for the three weeks prior to 2
    October 2005 reported in our last trading update.

The Group is on track to meet market expectations for the financial year,
although within the overall result, Howden Joinery is likely to deliver an
operating profit towards the lower end of current market estimates.

A wide-ranging and fundamental review of the Group's performance and strategy,
including UK Retail, is being undertaken by Matthew Ingle, whose appointment as
Group Chief Executive was announced on 3 October 2005. The review is ongoing and
an announcement will be made when conclusions are reached. In the short-term UK
Retail is being managed for margin, cost control and cash, with the immediate
focus on the important Winter Sale, which commences on Boxing Day.

As part of this strategy review, the Board is exiting certain of the Group's
activities comprising:

>   Howden Millworks in the USA;

>   the retail joint venture in Taiwan; and

>   the Ethan Allen joint venture in the UK.

These activities are expected to report a combined loss of circa £10 million in
the current year. There will be an exceptional charge to the profit and loss
account of approximately £16 million in the current year.


Trading and outlook

The Group's order performance for the year to date, as compared with last year,
is summarised below:

                             Second half to date(1)          Year to date(2)
                              Total      Same store        Total     Same store
------------                --------       --------       --------    --------
Howden Joinery(3)               8%            4%            11%           7%
UK Retail(3)                  (19)%         (18)%           (9)%        (10)%
France Retail(3)                6%            4%            10%           7%
Group                          (5)%          (7)%            0%          (2)%
------------                --------       --------       --------    --------

(1) 24 weeks to 26 November 2005
(2) 48 weeks to 26 November 2005
(3) For Howden Joinery, orders equate to sales. UK Retail and France Retail
    orders are recorded as sales when the order is despatched to the customer

Howden Joinery

Orders (which equate to sales) for the year to date at Howden Joinery show an 11
per cent year on year increase (same store 7 per cent).

Howden Joinery traded well through its peak period in October with sales for the
second half to date up 8 per cent (4 per cent on a same store basis). The
trading environment has become increasingly demanding and is expected to remain
so.

By the year end, 22 depots will have been opened taking the total to 342. Depot
openings are less than the 40 originally planned, reflecting the emphasis on
profit contribution in current market conditions. The Board expects 2006 depot
openings to be at a similar level to this year.

UK Retail

UK Retail continues to experience tough market conditions. The focus in the
business is on margin, cost control and cash and this will continue through the
Winter Sale. Following recent management action, UK Retail gross margin has
shown an improvement.

Orders for the second half to date show a decrease of 19 per cent compared with
the same period last year. This reflects a year on year decrease in orders of 15
per cent reported for the first 13 weeks of the second half (to 7 September
2005), a year on year decrease reported for the next three weeks of the second
half (to 2 October 2005) of 31 per cent, and a 15 percent year on year decrease
for the subsequent eight weeks (to 26 November 2005).

For comparison, year on year sales in UK Retail in the second half are down 12
per cent on both a total and same store basis and sales for the year to date are
down 4 per cent (5 per cent on a same store basis). The decrease in sales for
the year to date is lower than the decrease in orders. This reflects the
unwinding of the high opening order book this year and an improvement in
delivery during 2005 following the supply chain problems in the second half of
last year.

France Retail

Hygena Cuisines continues to record a strong performance with orders for the
year to date up 10 per cent and same store orders in local currency up 7 per
cent on the same period last year.

Non-core activities

As part of the strategy review, the Board is exiting a number of the Group's
activities.

In the United States Howden Millworks is to be closed. Whilst recent sales
performance has improved, the results from the 20 pilot depots do not justify a
significant roll out programme at this time. In order to achieve an efficient
realisation of inventory the business will continue to trade until March 2006.
All operations in the United States will cease by June 2006.

Agreement has been reached to divest the Group's interest in its retail Joint
Venture in Taiwan to the local partner. The business will continue to be
supplied with product by the Group. It is expected that the divestment will be
completed by January 2006.

In the United Kingdom, we have reached agreement with our Joint Venture partner
Ethan Allen Inc. to close the two Ethan Allen stores in the UK. The closure plan
anticipates that operations will cease by the end of March 2006.

Financing

Constructive discussions with the Group's lenders continue and these are
expected to conclude before the announcement of the Group's preliminary results
for the current year. Net debt is currently around £63 million.

Matthew Ingle, Chief Executive Officer, said today:

'Howden Joinery has performed well in a more demanding market. In UK Retail we
are undertaking a fundamental review and, in the short term, are managing the
business for margin, cost control and cash. We have also taken actions to
simplify the Group and improve profitability by exiting a number of non-core
activities.'

Enquiries

MFI
Matthew Ingle          020 7404 5959 (today only)
Mark Robson            020 7404 5959 (today only)

Brunswick
Susan Gilchrist        020 7404 5959
Fiona Laffan           020 7404 5959
Anna Jones             020 7404 5959




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