UK's Topps Tiles flags stronger demand next year after challenging 2024
Recasts paragraph 1, adds CEO comment in paragraph 6, analyst comment in paragraph 9, details throughout
Oct 2 (Reuters) -UK's ToppsTiles TPT.L said on Wednesday that it expects stronger demand in the flooring marketin 2025, after posting a decline infull-year sales due to challenging market conditions.
The British housing industry and sectors closely linked to it have struggled over the past few years as high interest and mortgage rates kept home buyers away.
However, the sector is anticipating a recovery next year as more potential UKrate cuts could liftconsumer confidence amid supportive housing policies by the new Labour government.
The repair, maintenance and improvement market stands to gain in tandem with an improvement in the housing market.
The trading environment remained very challenging across the whole year, with continued weak demand in the domestic repair, maintenance and improvement sector, Topps Tiles said.
"Looking ahead, macro-economic indicators point to a stronger market in 2025. The timing and trajectory of the recovery remains hard to predict," CEO Rob Parker said in a statement.
Building materials supplier SIG SHI.L also signalled a potentialrecovery in market conditions after its like-for-like sales fell 4% in the third quarter.
Topps Tiles reported a 4.4% fall insales for the fourth quarter ended Sept. 28, a less severe declinecompared to the rest of the fiscal year.
"The company's fourth quarterLFL performance has improved slightly on easing comparatives. While there is no upswing in momentum yet, we believe we are through the consumer low point," analystsat Peel Hunt said in a note.
The Enderby-headquartered company's sales for the year, excluding revenue from the assets acquired from the administrators of distributor CTDTiles, dropped 5.7% to248 million pounds ($329.5 million).
The company also said the UKcompetition watchdoghas indicated that it intends to review the recently announced CTD acquisition.
($1 = 0.7527 pounds)
Reporting by DhanushVignesh Babu and Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Sonia Cheema
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