Topps Tiles hails recovery after store reopenings
Topps Tiles saw its group revenue decline by 2.8% in the 27 weeks to 26 March due to the impact Covid-19 restrictions, but said sales have recovered well since stores reopened after lockdown.
The retailer said its first half was marked by two contrasting periods of trading, While the first quarter saw record sales with retail like-for-like up 19.9%, trading in the second quarter was impacted by lockdown restrictions with nearly half the group’s usual customer base being unable to enter its stores for three months. This meant that retail like-for-likes were down 17.3% across the quarter.
Rob Parker, Topps Tiles chief executive, said: “An exceptionally strong performance in Q1 demonstrated the ability of the business to bounce back following the initial lockdown. Our performance in Q2, while materially stronger than in the first lockdown, was heavily impacted by the re-imposition of Covid-related trading restrictions at the start of the period.”
The retailer has posted a first half adjusted pre-tax profit of £5.1 million due to the strong first quarter sales and the fact that second quarter trading losses were partially offset by business rates relief. This compares to a profit of £1.2 million in the corresponding period in the previous year.
Topps Tiles said its stores have performed well in the five weeks since reopening and that retail like-for-like sales have climbed by 16.8% on a two-year basis.
Parker added: “The reopening of our stores to all customers on 12 April has once again been received very positively and we have seen a strong recovery in sales and gross margins, with retail like-for-like sales 16.8% ahead of the same period in 2019 in the five weeks since reopening. We are confident of a much-improved performance in the second half and believe the group remains well positioned to take advantage of an expected increase in consumer spending as we focus on our market share goal of ‘1 in 5 by 2025’.”
