Tile specialist Topps Tiles was under the cosh on Wednesday as it posted a jump in first-half sales but a drop in quarterly like-for-like sales.
In a trading update for the 26 weeks to the end of March, the company said total revenue rose to £109.4m from £106.6m, while LFL revenue was up 0.6%.

However, trading in the second quarter slowed down, with LFL sales 2.2% lower due to inclement weather in February and March, an earlier Easter and "a softening of the underlying market". LFL sales in the first quarter had risen 3.4%.

Chief executive officer Matthew Williams said: "After a strong start to the year, market conditions have become more challenging over the second quarter. While the business has responded well with a performance ahead of the overall tile market, we are retaining a cautious view of market conditions for the remainder of the year."

Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index, said: "Nasty winter storms have taken a toll on sales but there's more to these weaker figures than the inclement weather. Management's claim that underlying trading has also softened will send a chill down the spine of investors who thought last year's woes had passed.

"British punters are evidently still shying away from splashing out on home renovations as the property market stalls and wage growth remains weak. To their credit, management is continuing to invest throughout the cycle and the commercial business still holds a lot of promise. However, with the strong first quarter proving to be something of a false dawn, investors will be losing patience."

At 0925 BST, the shares were down 9.3% to 73p.

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