Introduction
Topps Tiles plc or group is a leading company in United Kingdom (UK). Topps Tiles is a specialist tile and wood flooring retailer with 321 outlets across the UK and Holland. UK, it has 309 outlets with a market share of 23% operating in a two retail brands, Topps Tiles and Tile Clearing House.
From the financial year ending 31st September 2009, the balance sheet of the group shows that the non-current assets (Goodwill and Property, plant and equipment) were worth £32,829, 000. While the current assets of the company which include Inventories, Trade and other receivables and Cash and cash equivalents amounted to £58,801,000. This gave the total assets of the company to be £91,630,000. On the contrary, the total liabilities of the company amounted to £144,912,000. This value gave the company a net liability of £53,282,000. These liabilities were consolidated by the market of the company which amounted to £53,282,000.
From the consolidated cash flow statement of Topps Tiles group, it is shown that the group boasts of a group operating profit of £16,425,000. The cash generated from operations (Depreciation of property, plant and equipment, Restructuring and other one-off costs, Decrease/(increase) in receivables, Decrease in inventories and Increase/(decrease) in payables) was £33,345,000 while (Interest paid, Payment of loan arrangement fee and Taxation paid amounted to £6,514,000. This gave net cash from operating activities to be £20,769,000.
The net cash used in investment activities and financing activities was £7854, 000. The Cash and cash equivalents at end of period £27,270,000. Cash generated by operations was £33.3 million, compared to £38.7 million last period.
Accordingly, the income statement of the company indicate a Group revenue – continuing operations of £186,061, 000 while the cost of sales was £77,584,000 to give a gross profit of £108,477,000. The Operating expenses were £86, 841,000 to give a Group operating profit before exceptional items of £21,636, 000. The overall profit after tax was £1,722,000. This is contained in the appendix of the annual report of the company for the financial period ending September 2009.
From its cash flow statement, the sources of finance for this group is basically from operating activities such as cash receipts from sale of goods and services, royalties, fees, commission and refunds of income tax. There are also cash receipts from investments, loans and other contracts held or the inventory acquired for resale. For the cash outflows, they include cash payments for gods and services, loans to other financial institutions, payments to and on behalf of the company employees.
The SME companies receive financial problems due to the weakness of the UK economy and the consequent business impact and Additional costs of sourcing due to weakness of Sterling in comparison to the Euro and US Dollar currencies over most of the financial period. SMEs also fear the high interest rates by financial institutions. Some SMEs lack or have shortage of collateral or lack of proven track records, lack of proper plans and also the need to show good sales turnover.

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www.toppstiles.co.uk