Topps Tiles quarterly sales up 10.2%

Floorings specialist Topps Tiles said on Wednesday that group sales in the 13 weeks to 31 December were 10.2% higher year-on-year.

Topps stated that approximately half of its sales growth was due to the comparative period in 2021 being prior to its acquisition of Pro Tiler Tools. Like-for-like sales were 5.1% higher than last year.

While Topps acknowledged that the timing of Christmas and New Year benefitted first-quarter sales by about half a percentage point, it highlighted that the business had delivered "another strong period of trading" in the weeks leading into Christmas, with sales to trade customers continuing to be an area of particular strength.

As far as the new year was concerned, Topps said it had "started well", even though group profitability in the current financial year was predicted to be more second-half weighted than usual.

Chief executive Rob Parker said: "We are pleased with what has been a strong first quarter of the new financial year, with strong like-for-like sales growth in Topps Tiles of 5.1%, excellent performance from our recent acquisition, Pro Tiler Tools, and overall group sales up 10.2% compared with the same period last year.

"We remain mindful of the macroeconomic headwinds which may impact UK consumers and businesses in the forthcoming year, but the group's strong balance sheet, world class customer service, specialist expertise and ambitious growth strategy gives us confidence that we will continue to deliver value over the medium term."

As of 0910 GMT, Topps shares were down 2.01% at 46.15p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com