TOPPS Tiles posted a dip in profit for its full-year results yesterday, as it warned the upcoming election has hurt customer demand.

Profit before tax slipped 1.6 per cent year on year to £12.5m for the 12 months to the end of September.

Revenue climbed 1.1 per cent to £219.2m while Topps Tiles managed to cut net debt by almost a third, slashing its debt pile from £16.2m in 2018 top £11.3m this year.

However in a boost for investors, basic earnings per share rose 3.6 per cent to 5.18p, despite the company keeping its final dividend of 2.30p per share flat year on year.

The firm blamed the impending General Election for weighing down consumer demand.

It warned that like-for-like sales have slumped 7.2 per cent in the first two months of its new financial year, compared to a 1.9 per cent decline in 2018. The flooring specialist added that "a reduction in political uncertainty will be key to the short term outlook improving".

Chief executive Matthew Williams said: "We expect external events will continue to weigh on consumer confidence for the immediate future." Shares rose 10.4 per cent to 72p.

(c) 2019 City A.M., source Newspaper