Travis Perkins (TP) has hailed its 2010 adjusted £216.7m pre-tax profits, a 20% growth over the previous year, as an excellent achievement at a time of depressed construction activity.
And despite the “considerable gloom” in the wider economy, TP said it did not subscribe to the double-dip recession theory.
Group sales increased 8% to £3.1bn (up 5% on a like-for-like basis). The merchanting division achieved a like-for-like performance boost of 7.3%.
And TP said it had started 2011 well, recording a like-for-like merchanting sales growth of 22% and 12% in retail during January.
“The first three weeks of February have also traded well, with a 10% increase in like-for-like sales in merchanting.”
However, Wickes’ kitchen and bathroom orders were down 3% in January and by 36% in February, reflecting a combination of increased ordering in 2010 in advance of the VAT rise and recent competitor discounting.
TP said it expected difficult conditions to remain in the next 12 months, with current levels of merchanting market activity still 20% below their peak in 2008.
“Although we will probably see some turbulence in short-term trends, we expect activity levels to continue their gradual recovery,” it said. “In contrast, we expect the retail market to continue to be soft.”
