RNS announcement

RNS Number:5376I Topps Tiles PLC 27 November 2007 Topps Tiles Plc Preliminary Results Topps Tiles Plc ("Topps" or "the Group"), the UK's largest tile and wood flooring specialist with 321 stores, announces its preliminary results for the 52 weeks ended 29 September 2007. Financial Highlights ? Total Group revenue increased 15.4% to ?207.9m (2006:?180.2m); like-for-like revenue increased 4.7% ? Group gross margin increased to 62.8% (2006: 62.6%) ? Operating profit increased to ?44.3m (2006: ?38.9m) ? Profit before tax ?37.8m (2006: ?39.1m) impacted by specific interest charge of ?6.8m ? Adjusted Basic Earnings per share of 14.94 pence (2006: 13.19 pence) * ? Basic Earnings per share of 15.09 pence (2006: 12.80 pence) ? Dividend policy maintained at 1.41 times cover ? Final net dividend of 6.95 pence per share to be paid on 31 January 2008 ? Net debt position of ?95.2m (2006: ?99.5m) * Adjusted for non-recurring items Operational Highlights ? 10 year anniversary of flotation of the company ? EPS growth of nearly 800% ? Total shareholder return in excess of ?200m ? Net 30 new stores opening in the UK ? Holland - now trading from 20 stores (2006: 15 stores) ? First seven weeks of the new financial period total Group revenue was up 8.4% and Group like-for-like revenue was up 1.1% ? Sponsorship deal with Leicester City Football Club ? Continued store roll-out programme with target minimum of net 20 new stores Commenting on the results, Matt Williams, Chief Executive said: "This year marked the 10th Anniversary of our listing on the LSE and another year of strong results which, despite tough trading conditions, underlines the success of our strategy and strength of our brand." For further information please contact: Topps Tiles Plc Matt Williams, CEO Barry Bester, Chairman c/o Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial 020 7861 3232 Ann-marie Wilkinson / Emma Kent / Antonia Coad Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial 020 7861 3232 Chairman's Statement This year marked the 10th Anniversary of our listing on the London Stock Exch ange. I am delighted to report that once again we have delivered another strong set of results proving the success of our strategy and the strength of our brand. The past decade has been an exciting time in the company's history. We have transformed the business from a modest 54 store outfit with 301 staff to a Euro pean operation with over 321 stores and 1,722 employees in the UK and Holland. Total Shareholder return since listing has been excellent, ?100 invested in 1997 would have grown to ?2,822, outperforming the FTSE250 by over 800%. In the past 10 years we have returned over ?200 million to shareholders by way of dividends and share buybacks. Financial Results Total group revenue increased 15.4% to ?207.9 million (2006: ?180.2 million) with like-for-like revenue for the period up 4.7% on last year, which we have achieved despite the continuing challenging retail market. Operating profit for the period was ?44.3 million (2006: ?38.9 million) giving a profit before tax of ?37.8 million (2006: ?39.1 million), impacted by a higher interest charge as a result of the refinancing for the share buy back. Basic earnings per share increased to 15.09 pence (2006: 12.80 pence). Dividend In line with our progressive dividend policy, the Board is recommending a final dividend of 6.95 pence per share. This, once approved by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting, is payable on 31 January 2008 to all shareholders on the register as at 4 January 2008. This brings the total dividend to 10.70 pence per share an increase of 2.9% on 2006. Board Changes In March this year we announced the appointment of Robert Parker as Finance Director, succeeding Andrew Liggett who left the Company in April. On behalf of the entire Board, I extend a warm welcome to Rob. We also announced in September that Nick Ounstead, who has been Chief Executive Officer for the last five years, would be taking on a new executive Board role of Business Development Director with responsibility for buying, Holland and group business development. I would like to thank Nick for his leadership and contribution to Topps throughout his tenure as Chief Executive. Matt Williams succeeded Nick as Chief Executive Officer from 1st November 2007. Matt joined Topps in 1998 in the property department. He was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in 2004 and joined the Board in 2006. Matt is already demonstrating his ability and drive and I am confident that with this first class executive team we have the best management in place to take the business forward. People Exceptional customer service is the core of our business and critical to our continued success. It is our people and not our products that achieve this. I would like to extend the Board's thanks and gratitude to everyone in the Comp any for their constant efforts in helping us to realise value for our shareholders. Outlook As the business continues to grow in size, revenue and market share we maintain our investment in the future of the business and our people. The business is in excellent shape and in very capable hands and I am confident that we will continue to achieve sustainable growth and deliver value for our shareholders in 2008 and beyond. Barry Bester Chairman Chief Executive's Statement We have again this year demonstrated the strength of our strategy and our organic growth. Our market leading position, excellent customer service and committed staff have all contributed to another solid year despite a tough home improvement market. UK Store Development and Expansion We are pleased to have again achieved our store opening target of 30 net new stores in the period, giving us an overall total of 301 trading outlets throughout the UK. We have modified the target going forward to a minimum of 20 net new stores reflecting a wider focus on improving and renewing the estate. Topps Tiles We have opened 25 stores in new locations, rebranded 2 from the TCH format, refitted 10 outlets and closed or relocated a further 6 giving us a total of 246 Topps stores. New locations include Crewe, Sheffield, Gloucester, Aylesbury, Scarborough, Brixton and Byfleet. We continue to develop our store portfolio and have now rolled out our new format across a total of 65 stores. The new enhanced display formats are proving popular with both customers and staff. We introduced a number of new ranges with a particular focus on natural products due to their increasing popularity. Tile Clearing House ("TCH") Tile Clearing House, our "cash and carry" offering has had a strong trading p eriod. We have opened a net 9 new TCH outlets and the format continues to prove popular with both trade customers and jobbing builders. We now have a total of 55 stores in the UK. New locations include Dartford, Southend, Plymouth and Lin coln. Holland Against the backdrop of a stable market, we have seen good growth in sales and profits in our Dutch business. We opened a further five stores taking the total to 20. Our marketing activity has been at a local level to date. However, as we experienced with the UK market, as we begin to reach a size that brings scalable benefits we anticipate increasing our advertising and marketing to a national audience. We continue to improve the mix of sales with 25% now coming from tiles and the remainder from wood flooring, accessories and adhesives. Plans for the current year include the opening of a minimum of a further five new stores. Marketing, Advertising and Sponsorship Over the last year we have maintained our national and regional marketing and advertising campaigns with Carlton Weather and our sponsorship of the UK Style channel. This year we also signed a sponsorship deal with Leicester City Football Club to coincide with the kick-off of the new football season in August. Although a commercial deal we very much see this as an extension to our community youth football initiative. Topps Tiles is Britain's biggest supporter of community youth football and we currently sponsor around 300 local teams nationwide. Staff Development and Customer Service Recruiting and retaining ambitious people at Topps is a core part of our strate gy. We place significant emphasis on the training and development of our employees. We have continued to develop our e-learning training system in store with a number of new courses. We differentiate our business from the competition in a number of ways. All of our stores carry a wide range and supply of stock, we offer a loan-a-tile service, a free "How to" DVD, a tile cutting service and a buy-back service allowing customers to "sell back" undamaged tiles within 45 days of purchase. These services coupled with friendly and knowledgeable staff offering technical advice led to 97.6% of customers surveyed expressing levels of satisfaction as 'good to excellent' (2006: 99.1%). Corporate Responsibility Topps believes in conducting its business in a manner which achieves sustainable growth whilst incorporating and demonstrating social responsibility. Our policy is published on our website at www.toppstiles.co.uk and more detail on our achievements can be found later in this report. The Board takes regular account of social, environmental and ethical matters in the business of the Group and believes in being responsible in the way that it conducts its operations. Topps is pleased to be a constituent member of the FTSE4Good UK Index. The Market We are the leading tile retailer in the UK with an estimated market share of in excess of 22% and we have continued to grow market share over the last financial year. The Home Improvement retail sector continues to see overall expansion and the UK tile market is forecast to grow by volume by over 15% between 2007 and 2011 (so urce: MBD). There is significant potential for growth in our marketplace with the UK still having one of the lowest usages per head of ceramic tiles in Europe, at a level around one third of that of other Northern European countries (source: MBD). Consumers are becoming more demanding and buying trends are showing the desire to tile rooms beyond the traditional kitchen and bathroom, a requirement for a broader product offering and also a trend towards refurbishing traditional rooms more regularly. Alongside these consumer trends household numbers continue to grow faster than the UK population, which is anticipated to rise by 12% over the next 25 years ( source: ONS). This is in contrast to the increasing number of households, which is expected to grow by almost 23% in the next 20 years, from 20.9m in 2003 to 25.7m in 2026, 3 million of these are expected to be built by 2020 (source: Government forecasts). We therefore believe Topps is well placed to benefit from these consumer and housing trends driving the growth in the tile market. Current Trading and Outlook In the first 7 weeks of the new financial period Group overall revenue increased by 8.4% and like for like sales by 1.1%. In the UK revenue increased 8.1% and like for like sales by 1.0%. In Holland overall sales increased 18.1% with like for like sales up 2.5%. We have had a challenging but positive start to the new financial period and there remains an underlying growth trend in the retail tile market. Whilst we believe the prospects for the future growth of Topps Tiles remain broadly positive we must not underestimate the potential impact that this year's turmoil in financial markets will ultimately have on consumers. Matthew Williams Chief Executive Officer BUSINESS REVIEW Nature, Objectives and Strategies of the Business Topps Tiles is a specialist tile & wood flooring retailer with operations in the UK and Holland. In the UK, we are the country's largest retailer of our kind with 301 stores and a 22% market share. We operate two retail brands, Topps Tiles and Tile Clearing House. Topps is the UK's leading branded tile retailer with 246 stores offering wall and floor tiles, natural stone, laminate, solid wood flooring and a comprehensive range of associated products such as underfloor heating, adhesives and grouts. Tile Clearing House is the biggest clearance tile retailer in the UK with 55 stores nationwide focussing on a mini warehouse type format and a "when it's gone it's gone" style customer offer. We have a growing European operation in Holland with 20 stores trading with a similar style customer offer to the Topps UK stores. The Topps' strategy, which has been in place for a number of years, has served the business extremely well - to be a specialist tile retailer operating from prominent, low rental locations offering customers a wide range of quality produ cts with fantastic service at attractive prices. From this comes the four corner stones of our competitive advantage - customer service, store locations, store layout and stock availability. This has enabled us to deliver 10 years of successful financial results, build an economically attractive and resilient business and become the market leading brand in the UK. Key Operational objectives for the UK and Holland: ? Continue our expansion of stores in the UK towards our stated objective of over 400 stores across both brands. ? Consolidate our position as the national brand for tiles and wood flooring. ? Improve the economic returns in our Dutch operation towards the levels we generate in the UK - principally by improving sales density and product mix to improve gross margins and continue our expansion to a minimum of 60 stores. ? Continue to develop our in store customer offer to ensure that we are always ahead of our competitors. ? To continuously review our store estate ensuring the appropriate number of new openings, refits and closures is commensurate with availability and economic environment Financial objectives: ? Financial reporting is a cornerstone of any successful business and it is imperative that we deliver the right information to the right people at the right time. We include management, employees, investors and other stakeholders in this process and strive to be as transparent and honest in our reporting as possible. ? We plan to grow dividends for shareholders broadly in line with earnings, subject to the investment needs of the business and an acceptable level of dividend cover. ? We will seek to maintain an appropriate capital structure, financing our operations through a combination of retained profits and bank borrowings. ? Treasury management is now a key part of our financial objectives and we will continue to manage our day to day cash reserves as effectively as possible and minimise the overall group interest charge. ? Reviewing all of our suppliers and ensuring that we are receiving good value for money is an important aspect of any financial agenda. We will continue with this process and will commence a three year rolling review of all non stock suppliers where benchmarking and tendering processes will be actively employed. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) The Directors monitor a number of financial metrics and KPIs for the Company and by individual store, including: Like for like & total sales growth Sales value per transaction Gross Margin The Directors receive regular information on these and other metrics and KPIs for the Group as a whole. In addition, the Directors receive information on non financial metrics including: Customer satisfaction Utilisation of own fleet Risks and Uncertainties Risks to the business include its relationship with key suppliers, the potential threat of competitors, the risk that key information technology or EPOS systems could fail; the loss of key personnel, the risk of a prolonged economic recession and the development of substitute products. The Directors routinely monitor all these risks and uncertainties and ap propriate actions are taken to mitigate the risks and/or their potential outcomes. During the coming year a series of detailed reviews will be performed across the business which will ensure we have up to date and robust contingency plans in place for all areas. FINANCIAL REVIEW PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT Revenue Revenue for the period ended 29 September 2007 increased by 15.4% to ?207.9 million (2006: ?180.2 million). Like for like stores increased sales by 4.7%. On a comparable basis (adding Holland into the prior year) overall revenue increased by 12.1%. Average transaction per customer has increased to ?64 compared to ?62 in the same period last year. Gross margin Overall gross margin was 62.8% compared with 62.6% last year. At the interim stage of this period gross margin was 62.6%. In the second half of the period we have generated a gross margin of 63.0%. Operating expenses Total operating costs have increased from ?73.9 million to ?86.2 million, an increase of 16.7%. Costs as a percentage of sales were 41.4% compared to 41.0% last year. Operating Profit Operating profit for the period was ?44.3 million compared to ?38.9m in the same period last year, an increase of 14.1%. This represented a 21.3% return on sales (2006: 21.6%). Other gains and losses Other gains & losses include the impact of property disposals. Property disposals accounted for ?0.3m (2006: ?0.3m) driven by a sale of a long leasehold on our Aberdeen store. Financing The net interest charge for the year was ?6.8m (2006: ?0.1m). This charge has increased as a result of the ?116m loan that was obtained in 2006 to finance the share buyback programme. The charge for the year also includes a fair value adjustment of ?0.5m relating to the interest rate hedging we have in place. The interest rate derivatives have been re-valued per the requirements of IAS39 "Financial Instruments; Recognition and Measurement". Profit before tax Reported profit before tax decreased by 3.2% to ?37.8 million (2006: ?39.1 million). This reduction is driven by the additional interest charge described above. The net result of the share buyback has generated a significant increase in the EPS return (see below). Group profit before tax margin was 18.2% down from 21.7% last year. Interest and tax The effective rate of Corporation Tax was 32.0% compared with 28.8% last year. The underlying tax rate, excluding adjustments in respect of previous periods is 30.8%. Net interest cover was 7.7 times based on earnings before interest, tax and dep reciation, excluding the impact of IAS39 in finance charges. Whilst interest rates have increased through the year which has increased the interest charge in the P&L, in January we put in place interest rate derivat ives, this has provided us with helpful economic protection during the year, however, the requirements of IAS39 have led to an additional charge this year resulting from a high degree of volatility in the financial markets over the final quarter of the year. Earnings per Share Basic and diluted earnings per share grew by 17.9% to 15.09p and 15.02p resp ectively. Dividend and dividend policy The Board is recommending a final dividend of 6.95 pence per share, which will give a total dividend for the period of 10.70 pence compared to 10.40 pence last year, an increase of 2.9% We have maintained a progressive dividend policy. BALANCE SHEET Capital Expenditure Capital expenditure in the period amounted to ?9.7 million. This includes the cost of acquiring 2 freehold sites for ?1.7million and development of a store site for ?0.3million, short leasehold additions totalled ?0.1million. We have fitted out 50 stores and undertaken preparatory work on a further 4 stores and refits at a cost of ?6.8million. We continue to update and expand our IT systems within the business and this coupled with some motor vehicle renewals accounted for ?0.7million. At the period end the Group owned 12 freehold sites including 2 warehouse and distribution facilities with a total net book value of ?17.7 million. Stock Stock at the period end represents 146 days turnover compared with 146 days for the same period last year. Capital Structure and Treasury Cash reserves at the period end were ?15.8 million (2006: ?16.5 million) with borrowings at ?111.0 million (2006: ?116 million). This gives the Group a net debt position of ?95.2 million compared to ?99.5 million as at 1 October 2006. In August 2006 the company borrowed ?116m to fund a 3 for 4 share buyback programme. Through the financial year we have been able to maintain an appropriate level of cash reserves in the business. The highly cash generative nature of our business means that the Group has always been able to fund its new store expansion programme from its own reso urces and to purchase freehold sites as suitable opportunities arise and we expect this to continue. Cashflow Net cash generated by operating activities was ?49.8 million, ?11.9million high er than last year reflecting the higher trading profit and improved working capital management. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The Annual General Meeting for the period to 29 September 2007 will be held on 8th January 2008 at 10.30am at Topps Tiles Plc, Thorpe Way, Grove Park, Enderby, Leicestershire LE19 1SU. Matt Williams Rob Parker Chief Executive Officer Finance Director Consolidated Group Income Statement For the 52 weeks ended 29 September 2007 2007 2006 ?'000 ?'000 Group revenue 207,898 180,180 Cost of sales (77,344) (67,470) --------- ---------- Gross profit 130,554 112,710 Operating expenses employee profit sharing (7,943) (5,907) distribution costs (61,504) (50,901) other operating expenses (16,765) (15,981) share buy back costs - (1,110) Share of results of joint ventures - 58 --------- ---------- Group and share of joint venture profit from operations before share buy back costs 44,342 39,979 Share buy back costs - (1,110) --------- ---------- Group and share of joint venture profit from operations 44,342 38,869 Other gains 270 258 Investment revenue 1,012 1,276 Finance costs (7,791) (1,339) Profit before taxation 37,833 39,064 Taxation (12,093) (11,260) --------- ---------- Profit after taxation for the period attributable to equity holders of the parent company 25,740 27,804 --------- ---------- Earnings per ordinary share - basic 15.09p 12.80p - diluted 15.02p 12.74p All of the above results relate to continuing operations. Consolidated Statement of Recognised Income and Expense For the 52 weeks ended 29 September 2007 2007 2006 ?'000 ?'000 Exchange rate gain loss on retranslation of overseas operation - (2) Tax effect of share options exercised 195 - Deferred tax on sharesave scheme taken directly to equity (157) 304 Profit for the period attributable to equity holders of the company 25,740 27,804 -------- ------- Recognised income and expense for the period 25,778 28,106 -------- ------- . Consolidated Balance Sheet As at 29 September 2007 2007 2006 ?'000 ?'000 Non-current assets Goodwill 1,430 551 Property, plant and equipment 41,851 36,857 Joint venture undertaking - 281 ---------- --------- 43,281 37,689 Current assets Inventories 31,067 27,031 Trade and other receivables within one year 7,002 5,528 Cash and cash equivalents 15,781 16,533 ---------- --------- 53,850 49,092 Total assets 97,131 86,781 Current liabilities Trade and other payables (31,497) (25,837) Bank loans (4,907) (4,900) Current tax liabilities (8,752) (7,507) ---------- --------- (45,156) (38,244) ---------- --------- Net current assets 8,694 10,848 Non current liabilities Bank loans (105,737) (110,600) Deferred tax liabilities (1,062) (1,233) ---------- --------- Total liabilities (151,955) (150,077) ---------- --------- Net liabilities (54,824) (63,296) ---------- --------- Equity Share capital 5,686 5,773 Share premium 681 531 Merger reserve 240 (399) Share based payment reserve 222 166 Capital redemption reserve 20,359 20,254 Retained earnings (82,012) (89,621) ---------- --------- Total deficit (54,824) (63,296) ---------- --------- Consolidated Cashflow Statement For the 52 weeks ended 29 September 2007 Cashflow from Operating Activities 2007 2006 ?'000 ?'000 Group and share of joint venture profit from operations 44,342 38,869 Adjustments for: Depreciation 4,424 3,718 Share of results in joint venture 0 (58) Share option charge 56 66 Loss on sale of fixed assets 772 258 Increase in receivables (1,144) (1,342) Increase in inventories (2,624) (1,693) Increase/(decrease) in payables 4,000 (1,949) ----------- --------- Cash generated by operations 49,826 37,869 Interest paid (7,805) (683) Taxation paid (10,980) (7,655) ----------- --------- Net cash from operating activities 31,041 29,531 Cashflows from Investing Activities Acquisition of Joint Venture (1,286) - Interest received 1,012 1,276 Purchase of property, plant and equipment (9,674) (8,668) Proceeds on sale of property, plant and equipment 1,166 573 ----------- --------- Net cash used in investment activities (8,782) (6,819) Cashflows from Financing Activities Proceeds from issue of share capital 158 222 Repayment of loans (5,000) (6,000) New Loans 0 115,500 Share Buy Back 0 (122,216) Dividends paid (18,169) (21,514) ----------- --------- Net cash used in financing activities (23,011) (34,008) Net decrease in cash equivalents (752) (11,296) Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 16,533 27,829 ----------- --------- Cash and cash equivalents at end of period 15,781 16,533 =========== ========= NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the 52 week period ending 29 September 2007 1 Basis of preparation The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The financial statements have also been prepared in accordance with IFRS's adopted by the European Union and therefore the Group financial statements comply with Article 4 of the EU IAS regulation. The financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis, except for the revaluation of financial instruments. 2 Revenue An analysis of revenue is as follows: 2007 2006 ?'000 ?'000 Non-Trade customers 182,830 159,482 Trade customers 25,068 20,698 -------- -------- 207,898 180,180 Investment income 1,012 1,276 -------- -------- Total revenue 208,910 181,456 -------- -------- 3 Business Segments The Group is currently organised into three retail operating divisions, Topps Tiles (Topps) and Tile Clearing House (TCH) and Topps Floorstore (Holland). These divisions are the basis on which the group reports its primary segment information. Segmental revenue and profit before taxation by business activity were as follows: Segmental information for the 52 weeks to 29 September 2007 Topps TCH Topps Consolidated Floorstore ?'000 ?'000 ?'000 ?'000 Revenue 175,380 25,068 7,450 207,898 --------- ------- -------- ---------- Operating profit before central costs 40,448 5,273 314 46,035 Head office /distribution centre costs (1,693) --------- ------- -------- ---------- Operating profit 44,342 Other gains 270 --------- ------- -------- ---------- Finance costs less finance income (6,779) Profit before taxation 37,833 4 Profit before taxation Profit before taxation for the period has been arrived at after charging/ (crediting): 2007 2006 ?'000 ?'000 Depreciation of property, plant and equipment 4,424 3,718 Staff costs 40,156 33,733 Cost of inventories recognised as expense 75,331 65,640 Net foreign exchange gains (270) (113) ======== ======== 5 Other gains and losses Other gains and losses in 2007 relate to the sale of a long leasehold property and in 2006 relate to the sale and leaseback of certain freehold properties. 6 Investment revenue and finance costs 2007 2006 ?'000 ?'000 Bank interest receivable and similar income 1,012 1,276 -------- ------- Finance costs Interest on bank loans and overdrafts (7,325) (1,377) Fair value loss on interest rate swaps (480) Interest costs capitalised 14 38 -------- ------- Net finance costs (7,791) (1,339) ======== ======= Finance costs have been capitalised based on a capitalisation rate of 5.1%, whi ch is the weighted average of rates applicable to the Group's general borrowings outstanding during the period. 7 Dividends Amounts recognised as distributions to equity holders in the period: 2007 2006 ?'000 ?'000 Final dividend paid for the 52 weeks ended 30 September 2006 of 6.00p (2005: 6.00p) per ordinary share 11,767 13,596 Interim dividend paid for the 26 weeks ended 31 March 2007 of 3.75p (2006: 3.50p) 6,396 7,933 Over / (under) provision in respect of the prior period final dividend 6 (15) -------- -------- 18,169 21,514 ======== ======== Proposed final dividend for the 52 weeks ended 29 September 2007 of 6.95p (2006: 6.90p) per share 11,860 11,734 8 Earnings per share The calculation of earnings per share is based on the earnings for the financial period attributable to equity shareholders and the weighted average number of ordinary shares as follows: 2007 2006 Number of Number of shares shares Weighted average number of shares for basic earnings per share 170,536,121 217,252,872 Weighted average number of shares under option 823,079 954,715 -------- --------- For diluted earnings per share 171,359,200 218,207,587 ======== ========= The reduction in the weighted average number of shares relates to the 3 for 4 reverse share split completed during August 2006. 9 Retained earnings ?'000 At 2 October 2005 41,109 Dividends paid (21,514) Share buy back (137,322) Exchange rate loss (2) Deferred tax on sharesave scheme taken directly to equity 304 Net profit for period 27,804 At 30 September 2006 (89,621) Dividends paid (18,169) Deferred tax on sharesave scheme taken directly to equity (157) Tax effect of share options exercised 195 Net profit for the period 25,740 At 29 September 2007 (82,012) 10 Financial information The financial information set out above does not constitute the Group's statutory financial statements for the 52 week period ended 29 September 2007 but is derived from those statements. Statutory financial statements for the 52 week period ended 1 October 2006 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and those for the 52 week period ended 29 September 2007 will be delivered following the Company's Annual General Meeting to be held on 8 January 2008. The Auditors have reported on the accounts to 1 October 2006 and 29 September 2007 and their report was unqualified and did not contain statements under section 237(2) or 237(3) of the Companies Act 1985. The Annual Report and Financial Statements for the period ended 29 September 2007 will be posted to Shareholders on 27 November 2007 and additional copies will be available from the Company Secretary at Topps Tiles Plc, Oak Green Business Park, Earl Road, Cheadle Hulme, SK8 6QL. Copies of the Annual Report and Financial Statements for the period ended 29 September 2007 will be submitted to the UK Listing Authority and will be available shortly for inspection at the UK Listing Authority's document viewing facility which is situated at: Financial Services Authority 25 The North Colonnade Canary Wharf London E14 5HS This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END