Weak demand knocks Topps Tiles’ profits

TOPPS TILES expects to report a 23% slump in underlying profits to £4.3m for the half-year to the end of March.

The Handforth-based group said it had experienced weaker than expected demand and was now looking at a number of “cost reduction initiatives”.

Once these have been completed management is predicting full-year adjusted pre-tax profit will be in line with market expectations of between £13.3m and £13.8m.

Total revenues for the 26 weeks to March 30 are expected to be up 0.9% to £87.4m, although like-for-like sales will dip 0.3%.

The group is currently trading from 320 stores and, “continues to make significant investments across the business as part of the strategy to grow market share”.