26th Nov 2013 09:58
LONDON (Alliance News) - Topps Tiles PLC Tuesday reported a drop in profits for the 12 months ended September 28 on marginally higher revenues, as the tile retailer recorded a smaller gain from the sale of freehold properties than in the previous year.
Topps Tiles said that it has seen an encouraging start to the new financial year, with group revenues on a like-for-like basis up 7.4% in the first eight weeks of the year.
The group said that it is cautious whether this trend will be sustained, but said that it is well positioned to capitalise on an improving UK housing market and stronger consumer confidence in the year ahead.
Topps Tiles reported pretax profit GBP10.6 million in the year to September 28, down from GBP12.5 million a year earlier. This was largely due to smaller gains from the sale of freehold properties. Topps Tiles gained GBP1.6 million from the sale of three freehold properties in the year to September 2012, but just GBP109,000 from the sale on one such property in the recent year.
The group also reported higher administrative, distribution and selling costs during the year just past.
Its net profit for the year was GBP9.1 million, compared with GBP9.8 million a year earlier, helped by lower taxes.
Topps Tiles said it is now trading from 327 stores, after closing several stores during the period. It also said that in the second quarter of 2014 its will be trialling a new small-store format called Topps Tiles Boutique.
Shares in Topps Tiles were up 5.9% Tuesday morning, trading at 103.75 pence per share.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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