Topps Tiles first-half profit drops but H2 sees 'encouraging' start
Topps Tiles reported a drop in interim profit on Tuesday amid broadly flat revenue, a performance it described as "resilient" in a "challenging" environment.
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In the 26 weeks to 30 March, pre-tax profit fell 18.8% to £5.2m on revenue of £110.3m, down 0.2% from the previous year. On a like-for-like basis, sales were up 0.2% in the first half.
Basic earnings per share declined 24% to 2.03p and the interim dividend was held at 1.1p a share.
Pre-tax profit on an adjusted basis was 11.1% higher at £8m. This excludes trading losses from the Parkside business while the company goes through an initial two-year phase of investing in growth plus other items which are either one-off in nature or can fluctuate significantly from year to year.
The tile specialist said it had made an "encouraging" start to the second half, with LFL sales over the seven weeks to 18 May up 1.2%, which is an improvement on the 0.2% decline seen in the same period last year.
Chief executive Matthew Williams said: "The group has delivered a resilient first half performance as we continue to consolidate our position as the UK's leading tile specialist. Against a consumer backdrop which remains challenging, our trading performance was robust, underpinned by further gains in market share.
"Our commercial tile business continues to grow rapidly, with first half sales more than tripling year-on-year. Expansion of the commercial division was accelerated by the acquisition of Strata Tiles in April. Strata is highly complementary to our existing Parkside commercial business and, together, the two brands provide the group with a strong base for further expansion into this large and attractive market segment."
At 1110 BST, the shares were down 2% at 76.24p.