Topps Tiles eyes commercial sector push

By Neil Maidment

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's biggest tile specialist Topps Tiles (TPT.L) may target the commercial market once it has reached its goal of taking a third of domestic sales across the country, it said on Tuesday.

Helped by new openings and improved stores and ranges, Topps Tiles has grown its share of the domestic market for six straight years to 30.3 percent at the end of 2014 and is aiming to take a third in total, possibly this year.

"Once we have achieved our goal we could look at the broader tile market," Topps Tiles Chief Executive Matthew Williams said.

Britain's commercial tile market, which serves contractors, housebuilders and industrial sites, is roughly the same size again as the domestic section, but makes up a very small part of Topps Tiles' 195 million pounds in annual sales.

The firm said on Tuesday adjusted pretax profit for the six months to March 28 rose 14 percent to 9.1 million pounds, as expected, on revenue up 6.4 percent to 104 million pounds.

Aided by improving housing transactions and a growing 'do it for me' trend of customers hiring professional tile fitters for projects, sales at stores open over a year grew 5.3 percent, with momentum continuing in the first six weeks of its third quarter.

To expand its presence, particularly in London, Topps Tiles is trialling boutique stores that can fit into smaller high street locations. The group will have 12-13 such stores open by the year end and sees potential for 60-70 longer term.

Its expansion is in contrast to big store closures taking place at large DIY chains Homebase (HOME.L) and B&Q (KGF.L).

(Editing by Mark Potter)