Topps Tiles sees like-for-like sales decline by 4.7% in third quarter
Topps Tiles has reported a 4.7% drop in like-for-like sales in its third quarter after struggling against weaker trading conditions in the period.
In a statement, the company said last year’s changes to Stamp Duty and its impact on the housing market had resulted in less favourable macro-economic conditions.
Topps Tiles is now trading from 367 stores compared to 348 in the previous year.
With almost all of its customers visiting both its website and one of its stores at some stage in their shopping journey, the company said it is working to make the combined store and digital experience as inspirational as possible. During the period, it generated 20,000 personalised digital brochures with over 90% of these generated in store assisted by store staff.
Commenting on the results, Matthew Williams, Topps Tiles chief executive, said: “At the time of our interim results in May we pointed to a more challenging macro-economic environment and this has persisted through the remainder of the third quarter. Tougher comparatives resulting from the changes to Stamp Duty in the prior year were a feature throughout the period and we have seen a modest improvement in trading over recent weeks as they have begun to ease.”
