Topps Tiles Plc, the UK’s largest tile specialist, has announced record turnover for the first half of the year.
According to its latest interim financial results for the 26 weeks ended 2 April 2022, total sales were up 15.5% to £119.2m from £103.2m against the previous comparable period. Pre-tax profit resulted at £5.6m, up 40% compared to £4m.
Topps said its positive performance was supported by ongoing strength of the UK RMI sector and its ‘successful growth strategy to deliver goal of ‘1 in 5 by 2025’’.
The business also revealed that it has launched a new online pure play business, through the acquisition of Pro Tiler Limited back in March, named Tile Warehouse (www.tilewarehouse.co.uk).
This is a new online-only tile brand targeting the ‘value conscious homeowner’, Topps said.
“This brand will focus on quality tiles at very competitive prices and will offer a simple brand proposition which will give homeowners the confidence, value and choice to tackle their next tiling project. Tile Warehouse will be complementary to the Topps Tiles brand and will target a different customer group, whilst leveraging the Group’s scale, supplier relationships, financial resources and digital know-how, as well as modern web design and technical infrastructure.
“The brand has been developed at a low cost and initially will be serviced from our existing supply chain facilities to minimise incremental overhead cost to the Group. We intend to invest in digital marketing to achieve rapid growth and therefore expect the brand to be modestly loss making in the first few years as we build scale.”
With current trading, the company added that sales remain at good levels within the Topps Tiles brand, with like-for-like sales growth of 5.7% in the first seven weeks of the second half.
Commenting on the results, Rob Parker, Chief Executive said: “The Group has delivered record first half revenues against a backdrop of continued robust demand for home improvements. While supply chain and inflation headwinds strengthened in the period, we are managing these challenges effectively overall and believe we remain well positioned relative to many of our competitors.
“We have continued to develop the Topps Tiles brand, enhancing our store portfolio and introducing a number of new developments to our award-winning website to further strengthen our omni-channel capability.
“We are pleased to announce the launch of Tile Warehouse, a new online-only brand which brings everyday low prices to homeowners. This builds on the acquisition of Pro Tiler Ltd in March and forms the basis for a new, high growth, online-only sales channel, leveraging our core strengths in product, service and scale.
“Looking ahead, we are mindful of the growing burden on consumers from inflation and rising interest rates as well as ongoing supply chain challenges, however, we remain confident in our strategy and medium term growth prospects.”
