Travis Perkins shrugs off depressed market

Builders' merchant Travis Perkins posted a 52% increase in full year revenue as like for like sales increased 6% despite the depressed construction market.

However the group cautioned markets are likely to remain subdued in 2012.

"The consumer sector is likely to decline by a more substantial amount as consumer confidence remains low, unemployment rises and disposable income remains under pressure," it said.

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Like-for-like sales were up 1.8% in the first seven weeks of its new financial year.

Adjusted profit before tax surged 37% to £297m for the year ended 31 December 2011 while group revenue increased to £4.779bn.

The Wickes DIY chain operator said it looks forward to another year of solid progress in 2012 despite softening markets and underlined its confidence in future trading by increasing its total dividend per share by 33% to 20p, including a final dividend of 13.5p.

Travis Perkins said synergies from its BSS acquisition 2011 exceeded expectations at £20m and expected synergies for 2012 has increased to £30m.

Chief executive Geoff Cooper said, "Despite a depressed construction market, we improved services to customers, gained market share, even before the expansion of our network and exceeded our targets from the integration of BSS, continued to outperform our markets, and won further market share. This meant we achieved a good set of financial results with improvements in all key figures."

"With the prospect of the market softening as we go into 2012, the continued improvement in our offer to customers and gains from strategic developments will be the engine of this growth. Our management team has proven itself capable of performing well in tough markets and outgrowing our competitors."