UK's Topps Tiles posts lower annual like-for-like sales, sees September rebound
UK's Topps Tiles posts lower annual like-for-like sales, sees September rebound Sept 30 (Reuters) - Britain's largest tile retailer Topps Tiles TPT.L on Thursday reported a marginal fall in annual like-for-like sales due to prolonged weakness in construction activity but said self-help measures lifted sales in September.
Subdued building activity in the UK, driven by rising costs of construction and energy as well as cautious consumer spending, weighed on demand for building products.
The company reported a 0.1% fall in like-for-like sales for the year ended September 26, as customers scaled back construction activity during the summer heatwave.
The group expects to report annual adjusted pretax profit in line with average company-compiled analyst consensus of £6.6 million.
Annual group revenue, excluding the stores absorbed from the acquisition of tile retailer CTD, rose about 0.7%.
The company said like-for-like sales grew in September, adding that the growth reflected the benefits of its self-help measures, which included shuttering underperforming stores and streamlining the business.
Topps Tiles' shares are up more than 8% so far this week after Britain's plans to introduce support for first-time buyers lifted hopes of an increase in building activity.
(Reporting by Simone Lobo in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
((Simone.Lobo@thomsonreuters.com, +919920570373))
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