UK's Topps Tiles posts lower annual like-for-like sales, sees September rebound

Sept 30 (Reuters) - Britain's largest tile retailer Topps Tiles on Thursday reported a marginal fall in annual like-for-like sales due to prolonged weakness in construction activity but said self-help measures lifted sales in September.

• Subdued building activity in the UK, driven by rising costs of construction and energy as well as cautious consumer spending, weighed on demand for building products.

• The company reported a 0.1% fall in like-for-like sales for the year ended September 26, as customers scaled back construction activity during the summer heatwave.

• The group expects to report annual adjusted pretax profit in line with average company-compiled analyst consensus of £6.6 million.

• Annual group revenue, excluding the stores absorbed from the acquisition of tile retailer CTD, rose about 0.7%.

• The company said like-for-like sales grew in September, adding that the growth reflected the benefits of its self-help measures, which included shuttering underperforming stores and streamlining the business.

• Topps Tiles' shares are up more than 8% so far this week after Britain's plans to introduce support for first-time buyers lifted hopes of an increase in building activity.

(Reporting by Simone Lobo in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)