5th Oct 2016 07:05
LONDON (Alliance News) - Topps Tiles PLC on Wednesday said it expects to report a rise in revenue and profit for its full year ended October 1, though said market conditions weakened in the fourth quarter.
The tile retailer said revenue for the year is anticipated to come in within the region of GBP215.0 million, compared to the GBP212.0 million reported a year earlier. Like-for-like revenue is expected to be 4.2% ahead of the prior year.
Like-for-like revenue in the fourth quarter was up 1.4%, from the 5.2% growth recorded for the same period a year earlier. Topps Tiles said its strategic decision to exit from the low-margin wood floor category during the quarter reduced like-for-like sales by 1.5%. This impact is expected to reduce over the first quarter of the new financial year, as sales from its new range of larger format tiles build, Topps Tiles said.
Adjusted pretax profit for the year is expected to be in the range of current market estimates, between GBP22.0 million and GBP22.7 million. Adjusted pretax profit for the year ended October 3, 2015 was GBP20.4 million.
The company said it continued to make good progress with its strategy of "out-specialising the specialists", introducing new ranges of tiles such as its XL range which will meet growing demand for larger tiles. In total, more than 50 new ranges have been launched over the year with sales from recently launched lines accounting for 12.8% of total sales.
In the core estate Topps Tiles said it opened five stores during the final quarter, taking the number of stores from which it current trades to 351 stores including 15 boutique stores. A year earlier, it was trading from 348 stores including 13 boutique stores.
"Whilst market conditions weakened over the final quarter as a result of reduced levels of consumer confidence we remain confident in our ability to outperform the market and deliver our goal of further profitable sales growth," said Chief Executive Matthew Williams.
Topps Tiles will report its final results on November 29.
Shares in Topps Tiles were down 6.7% at 104.00 pence on Wednesday morning.
By Hannah Boland; [email protected]; @Hannaheboland
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Topps Tiles