Trading Update

RNS Number : 7093J

Topps Tiles PLC

04 April 2018

 

4 April 2018

Topps Tiles Plc

H1 Trading Update

Trading

Topps Tiles Plc (the "Group"), the UK's largest tile specialist, announces a trading update for the 26 week period ending 31 March 2018. The Board will announce interim results for the period on 22 May 2018.

Total revenues for the 26 week period were £109.4 million (2017: £106.6 million).

Like-for-like revenues for the 26 week period increased by 0.6%.

The Group ended the period with 376 stores, having opened 5 and closed 3 stores during the first half.

Trading in the second quarter has seen a slow down from the levels reported in Q1, with like-for-like sales down by 2.2%.  While we estimate that short term weather factors in late February and March, and the timing of an earlier Easter, account for around 1.6% of the second quarter like-for-like sales reduction, it is also clear that that there has been a softening of the underlying market.  We believe that we have continued to outperform the market which we attribute to the execution of our strategy and continued strong promotional positioning.

Analysis of LFL sales by quarter

	Q1	Q2	First Half
FY 2018	+3.4%	-2.2%	+0.6%
FY 2017	+0.3%	-4.1%	-1.9%

Strategic Progress

We continue to invest in the business and to make good progress with our core strategy of "Out-Specialising the Specialists" to extend our market leading position in the UK tile market.  Specific strategic progress in the period includes:

·	Commercial - we are investing in our Parkside business with an ambition to develop this into a leading brand in the commercial tile market.  We have launched a new website, parkside.co.uk, and are very encouraged by the response we have received in our drive to build a talented sales team.
·	Range - we are seeing encouraging signs that we can leverage our buying scale and range advantage into the commercial segment, effectively almost doubling the size of our addressable market while staying within our specialism of tiles.
·	Stores - we have commenced our all store improvement programme which will involve us implementing the latest customer merchandising treatments, such as our design advice area, across our entire estate over the next two years.
·	Digital - Toppstiles.co.uk, has been voted a top 50 UK retail website by InternetRetailing.  The classification was for customer experience and was based on ease of navigation, usability, speed and customer service response times.

Matthew Williams, Chief Executive Officer, said: "After a strong start to the year, market conditions have become more challenging over the second quarter. While the business has responded well with a performance ahead of the overall tile market, we are retaining a cautious view of market conditions for the remainder of the year."

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Group to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR").

- Ends -

Enquiries:

Topps Tiles Plc	0116 282 8000
Matthew Williams, Chief Executive Officer
Rob Parker, Chief Financial Officer
Citigate Dewe Rogerson	020 7638 9571
Kevin Smith / Nick Hayns

Note to editors

Topps Tiles Plc is the UK's largest specialist supplier of tiles and associated products, targeting the UK domestic refurbishment and commercial market and serving a retail and trade customer base from 376 stores nationwide.

Since opening its first store in 1963, Topps has maintained a simple operating philosophy - inspiring customers with unrivalled product choice and providing exceptional levels of customer service.

For further information, please visit www.toppstiles.co.uk/media-centre/investors.asp

 

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