Wednesday 08 May 2019 9:00 am | Updated: Wednesday 05 June 2019 9:09 am

Grand designs: Travis Perkins overhaul yields first quarter sales growth

Home improvement giant Travis Perkins’ shares rose this morning after it reported 5.4 per cent total first quarter sales growth.

The FTSE 250 firm, which also owns Wickes and Toolstation, said the rise reflects a more “customer focused” approach after setting out a plan in December to provide better service for trade customers and simplify the business. Shares rose 4.8 per cent in early morning trading.

Travis Perkins said its like-for-like sales in the first quarter were up 10.6 per cent year-on-year in its core merchants division and Wickes home improvement sales rose 10.5 per cent, with bearing the fruit of “a strong turnaround in kitchen and bathroom performance”. Not only this, but Toolstation enjoyed 19.1 per cent sales growth, driven by a push to expand its network of outlets and existing stores maturing.

The group’s plumbing and heating business suffered at the hands of the recent mild winter in the UK, however, falling four per cent. The firm said it was working towards ring fencing the two businesses, a process which it expects to wrap up before the end of next month.

Chief executive John Carter said: “We have delivered strong sales growth in the first quarter of the year, which reflects both our focus on excellent customer service and the weak comparator in 2018. This performance is all the more encouraging given the impact of the on-going political uncertainty on our end markets.

“We are making good progress on cost reduction activities and expect to meet our cost reduction targets this year.”

Despite the growth, Travis Perkins could not upgrade its sales forecasts for 2019 given the “uncertain market conditions”. Last month, the firm announced that Carter would step down in August to be succeeded by Nick Roberts, the current boss of engineering firm Atkins.