THE future of Mid Wales's fashion and furniture giant Laura Ashley remains in doubt as the company scrambles for fresh funding.

The retail firm says it hopes to secure £15 million to help it keep ticking over, and has said that failure to bring in enough money to meet its needs, and to fund a turnaround plan, would leave it having to "consider all appropriate options".

There were reports over the weekend that this could include the company being placed into administration. Sky News reported that the company was in talks with HMV's former owner Hilco Capital over a possible funding lifeline.

While the company is listed on the London Stock Exchange, it is controlled by Malaysia's MUI Group, and that backer has also suggested it could put £10 million into the company to back its turnaround.

"The Company is in advanced discussions with a third-party lender to provide facilities of up to an additional £15 million to meet the group's working capital requirements," it said in a statement on Monday morning.

"This process is being managed by Arrowpoint Advisory and the debt funding will need to be in place by no later than the end of March 2020.

"If the Group is unable to secure commitment for the requisite level of funding by the end of March to satisfy its ongoing working capital requirements and turnaround plan, then the Company will need to consider all appropriate options."

There was some good news – the statement said Laura Ashley's gross profits jumped by 27 per cent in the early part of the year, and that sales were up by 22.2 per cent. But it has also warned that the coronavirus outbreak could yet affect the company because fewer people will head to the high street.

The company was founded in Newtown and had a factory in Carno, which it sold to a leather making firm in 2015. It still has its Newtown factory.

Carno was the original base for the company when Laura and Bernard Ashley moved from Kent in 1961.

The factory was opened in 1967, and was open for nearly 40 years before closing in early 2005, leaving it derelict until it was purchased.

When it closed, jobs were moved to the Newtown base, which had opened in 1984, a year before Laura Ashley passed away.

The company still has 150 shops, and employs about 2,700 people.

Its share price has tumbled in recent years. In May 2015 a share in the retailer was worth almost £35, but is now trading as low as £1.20.