Topps Tiles says DIY market ‘very challenging’ as yearly sales slow

Topps Tiles has said households are still holding off on costly home renovation projects, as it reported a slowdown in sales this year.

The retailer said it had nonetheless managed to do better than the wider market.

It reported group sales of around £248 million for the year to the end of September, in a trading update to investors following its fourth quarter.

This was 5.7% lower than the previous year, when Topps reported record high revenues of £263 million.

Compared like-for-like, which strips out the impact of new store openings over the past year, sales were 9.1% lower than the prior year.

The company said the sales environment “remained very challenging across the whole year” with demand continuing to be weak across the repair and maintenance sector, especially for costlier projects.

Topps has been among retailers in the DIY sector to flag waning interest among households for home renovations, as the rising cost of living and higher mortgage costs had a knock-on effect on housing purchases.

But the tiling specialist said it thinks sales across the repair, maintenance and improvement market have fallen by about 10% to 15% year-on-year, which means it has done better than some other retailers.

In August, Topps struck a deal to buy 30 stores and the brand of tile supplier CTD Tiles for £9 million after it collapsed into administration.

CTD had become insolvent after coming under pressure from the downturn in the home improvement sector, with demand failing to recover as expected.

Rob Parker, the chief executive of Topps Tiles, said: “In a year that has proved challenging in many ways, I am pleased by how well our teams have responded to the weaker market, demonstrating both our resilience and our ability to continue to outperform.

“Looking ahead, macro-economic indicators point to a stronger market in 2025,” he said, but added that the “timing and trajectory of the recovery remains hard to predict”.