Topps Tiles shares sink on fourth quarter sales dip
Shares in Topps Tiles dipped this morning as the company revealed political uncertainty hurt fourth quarter trading.
The tile retailer said like-for-like sales fell 1.9 per cent in the fourth quarter as uncertainty impacted consumer confidence. Shares fell 6.5 per cent this morning.
Read more: Brokers urge investors to buy Topps Tiles shares as sales grow
Full-year like-for-like sales are expected to be up 0.6 per cent in the 52 weeks to 28 September.
Adjusted revenues are expected to be around £214m, from £214.8m the previous year.
Chief executive officer Matthew Williams said: “Our sales growth across the group for the year as a whole compares favourably with the overall tile market.
“However, political uncertainty continued to weigh on consumer confidence in the final quarter and we expect this to remain a feature until there is greater clarity.
“Longer term, we are confident that our growth strategy will continue to deliver market outperformance.”
In the fourth quarter the company launched 15 ranges and a total of 40 new ranges in the year.
Read more: Profit slips nearly 20 per cent at Topps Tiles in first half
Topps Tiles has 362 stores, down from 368 last year, and shuttered three sites in the fourth quarter.
The group announced it has received a one-off £2.3m payment from HMRC relating to historic import duty which will be recognised in its full-year results.
Main image credit: Getty