Topps Tiles Sees Slower Sales Decline

London, England, May 27, 2009--British tile and wood flooring retailer Topps Tiles said its rate of sales decline slowed in the early weeks of the second half of its fiscal year.

The group's shares rose over 11 percent on Wednesday after it said sales at stores open more than a year fell 11.9 percent in the first seven weeks of its second half, having slumped 18.5 percent in the 26 weeks to March 28.

"The speed of the decline has slowed, and we are seeing some stability in actual weekly takings, which is encouraging, but there's still some uncertainty out there in the economic outlook," Chief Executive Matthew Williams said.

"Because it's unavoidable that tiles are a discretionary spend, consumer confidence plays a vital role in people's decision to buy," he said.

Topps Tiles reported a 57 percent fall in first-half profit and suspended its dividend as the group focuses on reducing its debt.

The firm reported a pretax profit of 7.5 million pounds for the 26 weeks to March 28, down from 17.6 million pounds in the previous year, on revenue down 13.4 percent at 92.1 million pounds and gross margin down 3.3 percent.