Topps Tiles sales surge as reopening beats expectations
Topps Tiles today hailed a successful reopening after the coronavirus lockdown, saying sales were ahead of its revised expectations for the period.
Shares in the firm jumped on the back of the news, rising over eight per cent to trade at 48p.
In June, average weekly sales at the company hit £3.3m, just 20 per cent down on last year’s £4.1m.
By the final week of the month, when all of its stores had started trading again. sales had risen as high as £3.9m.
Across the quarter as a whole, average sales were down over 50 per cent at £1.9m, but this was mainly due to performance in April, where the company only took £800,000 a week as all its stores were closed.
Today’s update was particularly encouraging in light of last month’s first half results, in which the firm swung to a £4m loss.
Topps Tiles said that the performance was better than had been expected due to a quicker reopening than expected and higher customer demand.
Online sales have also surged during the lockdown period, increasing 139 per cent on last year, which the firm said had justified its investment into the platform.
In its commercial arm, sales totalled £1.6m in the quarter, down 16 per cent on the previous year, but Topps Tiles said that activity levels were now increasing steadily as the construction industry returned to work.
Having drawn down a £10m loans from the government’s coronavirus large business interruption loan scheme (CLBILS), the company said that it cash headroom of £52.9m.
Rob Parker, Topps Tiles’ chief executive, said: “I am pleased with the resilience shown by the business through this period and I would like to thank colleagues across the group for their hard work and dedication which ensured that, by the end of June, all Topps stores were back open and serving our customers safely.
“The group has demonstrated its resilience, with revenues ahead of our expectations, and we have strengthened our financial liquidity through the sale and leaseback of our central warehouse and head office facility.
“Looking ahead, from our market leading position and with a firm financial footing, Topps is well-positioned as the economy begins to recover.”