Topps Tiles reveals accelerating sales ahead of £4m costs increase

Topps Tiles has revealed a rise in sales for the past six months, as it benefited from “strong” trading in March.

It came as the tile and flooring retailer warned it will face an extra £4 million in costs due to wage and national insurance increases coming into force this month.

The company said group sales, excluding the CTD Tiles business Topps rescued from administration last year, were up 4% to £127.7 million in the 26 weeks to March 29.

It said this came after underlying growth accelerated to 4.4% in the second quarter from 3.3% in the three months to December.

Sales were “slower” in January but progressively improved and resulted in a “strong March”, the group said.

The Leicestershire firm said homeowner sales “remain subdued” amid caution over spending heavily on major DIY projects.

However, it stressed that trade sales were strong over the period, as it also benefited from digital growth.

The group said total trade sales in the Topps Tiles brand were 12% higher year on year in the half, with the number of active traders at the end of the period up 11% year on year to 146,000.

On Wednesday, Topps also said it has made “good progress in identifying potential candidates” to replace Rob Parker as its next chief executive.

Mr Parker revealed plans to leave the company in January after criticism from Topps’ largest shareholder.

He said: “Following our return to sales growth in the early weeks of the year, we are pleased to see this trend accelerate in the second quarter, driven by some initial signs of success from our new strategic initiatives, including an improved trader digital experience and further category extensions.

“Whilst macroeconomic indicators remain mixed, we remain focused on the delivery of our strategy which we are confident will lead to the achievement of our Mission 365 growth initiative goal over the medium term.”