19th May 2020 12:17
(Alliance News) - Topps Tiles PLC swung to a pretax loss for the first half of financial 2020, it said Tuesday, blaming economic uncertainty relating to the UK general election in December and a continuation of weak consumer spending.
For the 26 weeks to March 28, the tile retailer recorded a pretax loss of GBP4.0 million, compared with a GBP5.2 million profit a year before. Revenue fell 3.8% to GBP106.2 million from GBP110.3 million.
Half-year like-for-like sales declined by 6.1% versus 0.2% growth a year earlier. Same store sales - excluding week 26 when all stores were closed due to Covid-19 - were down by 4.3%.
Topps Tiles recorded a GBP1 million trading loss from its commercial business and took a GBP2.7 million impairment charge on planned store closures. Margins fell to 59.2% from 61.2%.
The company has decided against declaring an interim payout, versus 1.1 pence paid a year ago, and said a full-year dividend for 2020 is unlikely in light of the trading losses expected from period of Covid-19 store closures and the trading outlook for the coming months.
Topps Tiles, which closed all its stores on March 23, is currently trialling new safe store operating procedures. It hopes to have 250 stores fully opened by end of May, with the remaining 100 stores opened by the end of June.
Chief Executive Rob Parker said: "The strong growth of our online business, the development of a collection-only store model, and the encouraging initial customer response to our phased programme of store re-openings, all demonstrate our resilience in the face of the Covid-19 threat.
"Having taken steps to strengthen our financial liquidity over recent weeks we believe our resources are sufficient to address the current challenge. Looking further ahead, as the UK's leading tile specialist, Topps remains well-positioned as the economy begins to recover."
Topps said recently received GBP10 million of additional support from lenders Barclays and RBS under the UK government's Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme.
Shares in Topps Tiles were trading flat at 38.00 pence each in London on Tuesday.
By Tapan Panchal; [email protected]
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