Profits dip at Topps Tiles

Profits have dipped at Enderby-based Topps Tiles for the second year in a row after the firm blamed inflation and the cost of opening shops for hitting its bottom line.

Adjusted results, which include trading losses from its commercial-facing Parkside business, show profits fell by 14% from £18.6m to £16m for the year ending 29 September. Revenues increased by 1.5% to £216.9m over the same period.

Matthew Williams, Chief Executive said: “This has been an important year of strategic progress for the Topps Tiles Group, in which our expansion into commercial has seen us double our addressable market while remaining firmly within our tile specialism, where our buying scale and expertise gives us a significant competitive advantage. Against a challenging market backdrop, the Group delivered a robust trading performance for the year with flat like-for-like sales and market-leading gross margins in retail, and the foundations laid for significant sales growth in commercial in the year ahead.

“At the start of the new financial year, trading conditions remain challenging and like-for-like sales in the first eight weeks have been negative against a strong prior year comparator. Whilst retaining a cautious view on the outlook, we remain confident that our expansion into the commercial tile market, coupled with our market-leading retail operation, gives us a solid platform for future growth.”