Travis Perkins’ retail division posts increased like-for-likes

The group, which also owns Toolstation and Tile Giant, reported like-for-like growth of 6.5% and sales growth of 10.5% in its retail business for the six months to June 30.

The division outperformed the group overall, which achieved a 3.1% rise in like-for-likes and a 5.8% rise in sales.

Adjusted pretax profit across the group stood at £184m, up 10.2%.

The results are seen as an indicator of consumer confidence in the housing market, and are the first of their kind to be reported following Britain’s decision to leave the EU on June 23.

Although the results only include one more week of trading, chief executive John Carter said that July trading across the divisions had recovered somewhat during the month.

He said: “It is clear that the result of the EU referendum has created significant uncertainty in the outlook for our end markets and we did experience weaker demand in the run up to and immediately following the referendum.

“Our two-year like-for-like sales in July have been below the levels we experienced in the second quarter, however we have seen a gradual improvement through the course of the month. 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.”

Travis Perkins added 16 Toolstation branches to its network over the six months.

It added one Wickes store, relocated another and, as part of a rollout of new format Wickes stores, refitted 14 shops. The number of new format stores now stands at 32, of a total of 236 shops. More conversions are planned over the second half of the year.