Topps Tiles: 2019 Like-For-Like Sales Rise By 0.6%

Topps Tiles Plc (the “Group”), the UK’s leading tile specialist, announces a trading update for the 52 week period ending 28 September 2019.

Adjusted revenues¹ for the 52 week period are expected to be in the region of £214 million (2018: £214.8 million).  Like-for-like revenues in the 52 weeks were ahead by 0.6% when compared to the prior year (2018: LFL flat).

Trading over the fourth quarter reflected a more challenging economic backdrop, with uncertainty impacting on consumer sentiment and like-for-like sales decreased by 1.9%. 

Adjusted pre-tax profits for the year ending 28 September 2019 are expected to be within the range of current market estimates.^*

* The current range of analyst forecasts for adjusted pre-tax profits for the 52 week period ending 28 September 2019 is £15.5 million to £16.0 million, with a consensus of £15.8 million. 

Analysis of LFL sales by quarter

 ¹ Adjusted revenues exclude the Parkside and Strata businesses which are being treated as an adjusting item during the first two years of ownership while we invest for future growth.

Strategic Progress

• Group – our “Leading Product” strategy of differentiation and innovation continues to deliver strategic advantage.  We launched 15 ranges in Q4, and a total of 40 new ranges in the year, more than a third of which were developed in-house.  Continued progress on leveraging our buying scale and advantage into the commercial sector means that almost 70% of Group purchases have been made through our core supplier group this year.
  
  
• Retail – we launched our new website on October 1^st which fully integrates our online offer with our stores, as we continue our journey towards a true omni-channel capability.  Our customer feedback ratings continue to be very strong with an overall satisfaction score for the year of 86% – ranking us #3 within the UK retail sector (source: Institute of Customer Service).  The Group ended the period with 362 retail stores trading (2018: 368), having closed three sites during the fourth quarter.
  
  
• Commercial – Our entry into the commercial tile market has approximately doubled our addressable market while staying within our core specialism of tiles.  Our strategy of “Disrupt and Construct” continues to make good progress and we expect to report revenues of c.£5 million for the year.  Parkside opened its new design studio in the Cotswolds during September, giving it a base of four locations across the UK.  In the recently acquired Strata business we have been focused on initial integration and leveraging efficiencies. 

Matthew Williams, Chief Executive Officer, said: “Despite continued tough market conditions it has been a year of significant strategic progress for the Topps Group.  In Retail, the recent launch of our new, industry-leading website brings new levels of inspiration to our customers and further integrates our digital and in-store offer.  In Commercial, our investments in building the salesforce, opening new design studios and improving its digital capabilities have enabled Parkside to establish significant momentum in its second year within the Group. 

“Our sales growth across the Group for the year as a whole compares favourably with the overall tile market.  However, political uncertainty continued to weigh on consumer confidence in the final quarter and we expect this to remain a feature until there is greater clarity.  Longer term, we are confident that our growth strategy will continue to deliver market outperformance.” 

In addition, the Group has recently received a one-off cash repayment from HMRC relating to historic import duty.  The Group expects to recognise £2.3 million in respect of this payment as an adjusting item in its results for the year ending 28 September 2019.

Source : Insight DIY Team and Topps Tiles

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