Topps Tiles hails good first half progress
Topps Tiles has reported an increase in first half profit after making good progress in five key growth areas.
In the six months to 29 March, adjusted sales rose by 4.1% to £127.8 million following an improving trend across the first and second quarters.
Meanwhile, adjusted pre-tax profit edged up 3.2% to £3.2 million.
The retailer said its work to modernise the trade digital experience is paying off. Trade traffic in Topps Tiles was up four-fold in the period while online trade sales and total trade sales climbed by 85% and 12% respectively. Due to an expansion into new categories, sales in new coverings categories increased by 17%.
Never Miss a Retail Update!Topps Tiles has also been focusing on business-to-business sales and its Pro Tiler Tools and Tile Warehouse businesses.
The retailer said the CMA investigation into its CTD acquisition concluded with minimal competition concerns identified.
Commenting on the first half performance, Rob Parker, Topps Tiles chief executive, said: “I am pleased with the progress we have made over the first half, which has included an improving sales trend, offsetting the majority of our inflationary cost pressures, and continuing to deliver our strategy; while also delivering a small increase in underlying profitability.
“We have recently announced the conclusion of the CMA investigation into our acquisition of CTD, which will form a major part of the business-to-business element of our growth strategy moving forwards.”
The retailer said it has made a strong start to the second half, with group adjusted sales in the first seven weeks up 9.5% year-on-year. Topps Tiles like-for-like sales were also up, rising by 6.2%.
Parker added: “As we look forward to the second half, current trading shows a strong improvement in both our market leading omnichannel business, Topps Tiles, and also in the newer parts of the group; and we have a clear plan to move CTD into profitability by the final quarter of our financial year and into growth beyond that.
“As a result, we expect our full year profits to show a meaningful improvement over the prior year.”
