Topps Tiles sales come unstuck in first quarter

Topps Tiles has revealed that sales were down slightly in the 13 weeks to end of December amid suggestions that its expansion into the B2B market would support growth this year.

Sales fell 1.4% in the firm’s first quarter. In the same period last year, sales grew 3.4%.

The firm said it was happy with its strategy of out-specialising the specialists” while emphasising the importance of digital to its business, which it described as “multichannel”.

Topps Tiles said almost all of its customers now use its digital channels and its stores as part of their buying journey.

Pre-tax profits in its past 12-month financial period were down a quarter to £12.7 million.

It said the company currently has 367 stores, down from 371 in the same period the year before. It said the ability to close, open or relocate stores quickly was a “key strength”.

Chief executive Matthew Williams said: “Against a challenging market backdrop and a strong period of performance in the prior year, we believe the business has performed robustly over the first quarter.

“We remain excited by both the opportunity for profitable growth that our expansion into commercial segment will bring and the continued opportunity to further strengthen our market-leading position overall.”

The company will announce a trading update for the 26 weeks ending March 30 on April 3.

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