Tough trading conditions in Germany thwarted international bedding giants Tempur Sealy International and Beter Bed Holdings, the two companies said in trading updates.

Beter Bed, the pan-European multi-fascia bed specialist, said today that sales in Germany, its biggest market and where it trades 834 Matratzen Concord stores, declined 9.3 percent in the first half of 2018.

That was the biggest drag on overall group revenue declining 3.9 percent for the half to €201.6 million, with Beter Bed slipping to an interim net loss of €6.8 million. It had recorded a €7.5 million profit this time last year.

U.S headquartered Tempur Sealy International yesterday also blamed Germany as its international sales "slightly underperformed" in the second quarter CEO Scott Thompson told analysts.

However, stronger performances from other international markets — particularly Asia — helped non-U.S revenue advance 6.0 percent to $141.9 million* in the three months to end June.

Total group sales were up by a softer 1.6 percent to $669.7 million as the company blamed "irrational promotional activities" at Mattress Firm — now a competitor, not a customer — while net income fell 6.9 percent to $22.8 million because of commodity headwinds and one-off charges.