Travis Perkins on track despite trading conditions

Building materials supplier Travis Perkins said like-for-like sales fell in the past eleven months to the end of November, as market headwinds continue, but the outlook for the year as a whole remains unchanged.

The Northampton based builders merchant said like-for-like sales fell 1.8% for the 11 months to the end of November 2012 while total sales for the period increased 1.6%.

"This period included two more trading days in our merchanting and plumbing and heating divisions than for the comparable period in 2011," the group explained in a statement.

It added that its specialist merchanting division has seen a small positive impact from the closure of a competitor. Like-for-like sales at merchanting rose 1.6%.

Looking ahead Travis Perkins said: "These trends mean that our outlook for the year as a whole remains unchanged from that stated in our October interim management statement."

"We remain on target to meet consensus earnings per share and are on track to achieve our net debt target of approximately £450m at the year end."

CJ