Topps Tiles reports 70% rise in profits during first half of the year

Tile and wood flooring chain Topps Tiles said profits soared by 70 per cent to £8 million over the first six months of the financial year.

The results, published today by the Enderby-based group, will help the retailer move towards its largest annual profit in five years thanks to the upturn in the housing market.

Revenue rose by 11.7 per cent to £97.7 million in the six months to March 29, compared to the same period of last year.

Chief executive Matthew Williams said: “The group has delivered a very successful first half performance, with strong sales growth, improving gross margins and overall growth in profits. While trading conditions undoubtedly improved during the period, helped by a higher level of consumer confidence, we believe our first half sales growth was significantly ahead of the overall tile market. Our strategy continues to focus on market share gains driven by offering an authoritative and differentiated range, outstanding service, and multi-channel convenience, resulting in excellent overall value for money.

“We have made a good start to the second half with a healthy level of sales growth in the initial seven weeks of the period. We believe we continue to grow sales ahead of the market and remain confident that our strategy will continue to deliver profitable market share gains, against a backdrop of a steady improvement in UK economic indicators.”

In March, the company said it was confident of meeting analysts’ pre-tax profit forecasts of £16.4 million for the full-year. This would be a 64 per cent rise on the year to September 2013.

No update on the firm’s projected performance for the full-year was given in today’s reported to the stock market.

Visit our Industry Articles pages to see the IMS and investor presentation: http://www.insightdiy.co.uk/articles.asp

Source : I Griffin - Leicester Mercury
www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Topps-Tiles-sees-profits-soar-70-8m/story-21114561-detail/story.html