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Authoritative Independent Monthly Share Selections Using Technical & Fundamental Analysis

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Topps Tiles

July 2010

Investing in shares may lose you all or some of your money. Past performance is no indication of future performance. Some of the shares recommended here may be small company shares, which can be relatively illiquid and hard to trade and this makes such shares more risky than other investments.

  • Epic Code:
  • TPT
  • Price:
  • 51p
Interims showed a pretax profit of £7.8m on turnover, which rose 5% to £91.4m. Net debt fell from £85m to £57.7m, partly thanks to the £15m share placing. As previously noted, like-for-like sales increased 2% but have since fallen 4.3% in the first seven weeks of H2. Analysts note that average transaction values have held up well but the main problem has been a reduction in customer footfall, due to fear of tax rises and poor employment prospects. Topps has reacted by reducing annual costs by c. £9m, primarily through lower staff costs and reducing marketing. The decision to exit its Dutch operation, which made a £5m loss in its previous period, should also improve prospects. The ongoing focus on repaying debt means no majo ...

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With small companies there is an above average degree of risk compared to buying blue chips. Please be aware that we have not assessed the suitability of any of these investments for you. The newsletter simply states a personal view and diarises the editor’s investment decisions. Please speak to your stockbroker or other qualified individual to ascertain whether any of these companies mentioned would form useful additions to your own portfolios. Past performance is no indication of future success.

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