Topps Tiles LFL sales rise 3.4% in first quarter

Tile specialist Topps Tiles reported a rise in first quarter like-for-like sales on Tuesday, although it struck a cautious note over the year ahead.

In the 13 weeks to 30 December, LFL revenue rose 3.4%, up from 0.3% in the same period a year ago, and the company ended the period with 371 stores, having closed one store during the quarter.

Topps said it continues to invest in the business and to make “good” progress with its core strategy of ‘out-specialising the specialists’. The company said differentiated products now account for almost 90% of its tile sales and are key its ability to generate market-leading gross margins.

In addition, a further competitive advantage has been created through investments in the company’s service offering, with a record number of customer service scores and levels of conversion underpinning a strong outperformance of the UK tile market in the period.

Topps has completed the refit of eight pilot stores ahead of its two-year all store improvement programme.

Chief executive officer Matthew Williams said: “We believe this represents an outperformance of the overall tile market in the period, reflecting the continued success of our strategy of ‘Out-specialising the Specialists’ and some further measured investment in both our trade and retail offer during the period.

“Our expansion into the commercial market is also progressing to plan, with the first investments made in the Parkside business adding new capabilities and resource. While we are pleased with the like-for-like sales growth achieved in Q1, we are retaining our prudent view of market conditions for the year ahead."

At 1020 GMT, the shares were up 7.8% to 86.20p.