Despite tougher markets, Travis Perkins put in a solid performance in the six months to June 30, 2005, increasing its operating profits by 29% to £137m.
Turnover rose by 41.3% to £1.3bn, 38.6% of which was contributed by the acquisition of Wickes.
Finance director Paul Hampden Smith said: “In broad terms there is some overall inflation with regard to timber products of around 2-3% – less in sawn carcassing and more on the plywood and blockboard type products.
“Our origins are in timber, and it is still a very strong part of our activity although it is suffering a bit at the moment.”
Travis Perkins added a record number of new branches in the first half, and the company is now trading from 972 locations in the UK.
The company said underlying drivers of long-term growth in its markets remain strong. Demand for new homes continues to run ahead of current supply and significant extra investment is still required in public sector infrastructure such as schools and hospitals.
The renovation of local authority, social housing scheme and privately-owned homes represents a lucrative market and Travis Perkins also expects to benefit from the 2012 London Olympics.
But while the elements of the company’s markets related to government and commercial projects remained robust, weakness in consumer spending led to it not achieving expected volumes of activity.
The trade-related parts of the business have remained steady, albeit at a slightly lower level.
Travis Perkins said it intends to maintain an increased pace of branch expansion and it is confident of meeting business expansion targets.
