Travis Perkins, owners of Wickes, Tile Giant and Toolstation has revealed that its first half like-for-sales has grown by 6.5%.
Total revenue increased 10.5% in the six months to 30th June which was helped by strong sales growth at Wickes due to 14 Wickes stores being refurbished, one new store and one relocation. Elsewhere in the business Toolstation added 16 new stores to its portfolio.
Further figures show that revenue grew 5.8% with like-for-sales increasing 3.1% across other divisions of Travis Perkins including plumbing and heating, general merchanting and contracts divisions. Pre-tax profit also increased 10.7% to £176 million.
Travis Perkins chief executive, John Carter, said: “The investments to extend our range, build out our distribution infrastructure, expand our network and accelerate our online growth have helped us continue to win market share and to position us well for the future. We plan to continue to invest in our businesses where we can generate strong returns and create value for our shareholders over the long-term.”
Travis Perkins said the effect of the Brexit vote saw less demand in the run up and immediately after the referendum with two-year like-for-like sales in July below the levels experienced in the second quarter, however there was improvement through the course of the month.
Mr Carter added: “In our view it is too early to precisely predict end market demand and we will continue to monitor the lead indicators we track and will react accordingly.”
