Topps sales drop in tough market

The UK’s largest tile and wood flooring specialist, which operates 321 stores, said like-for-like sales declined 6.9 per cent in the seven weeks since the end of September, having been down two per cent over the previous financial year.

And it expects conditions to remain difficult in 2012 as shoppers’ spending power continues to be squeezed, the weak housing market puts people off home improvements, and fears of a double-dip recession force shoppers to delay purchasing expensive items.

The Leicester-based group, which said it has the potential to grow to 400 stores, reported a 15 per cent fall in underlying profits to £13.9 million in the year to October 1 as it battled “very challenging trading conditions”, particularly in its second-half