News of takeover approachs provided a timely boost to shares in Cornwell Parker, the struggling furniture and fabrics company. The board at Cornwell confirmed it had received more approaches since its original statement in January about a possible merger. The announcement accompanied results for the interim period to 31 January, which showed profits slipping 36% to £2.12m and sales falling by 10% to £41.1m. The group said the difficult trading conditions had contributed to the fall and added that the second half is likely to be just as tough.