Weak housing and RMI impacts Travis Perkins’ first quarter

Travis Perkins plc managed a resilient first quarter trading performance, despite challenging market conditions. Total sales were down 2.8%.

 Weak new build housing and domestic repair, maintenance and improvement markets especially impacted the Merchanting sector, although the commercial, industrial and public sector markets, accounting for just under half of the Group’s end market exposure, saw more resilient demand.

Price inflation was lower than towards the end of 2022, but was still around 9.0%, as suppliers passed-on increases on key product lines in 2023. Overall, Merchanting total sales were down by 4.7% in the quarter.

Toolstation saw total sales growth of 8.6% and like-for-like sales growth of 4.6%. In the UK, the appeal of the omni-channel model to customers continues to drive digital adoption with App downloads now passing one million and almost a third of customers now preferring to use the App to purchase from Toolstation.  

Travis Perkins CEO Nick Roberts, said: “As we had anticipated, trading conditions were challenging in the first quarter but our diverse exposure across the construction sector has enabled us to deliver a resilient performance. The timely actions taken to prepare our businesses for a lower demand environment mean that we continue to expect to deliver a full year performance in line with market expectations ³.

“We are focused on ensuring the right balance between cost and capital discipline and investing to deliver against our strategic priorities. The growth opportunities provided by the need to decarbonise the UK’s built environment, improve the energy efficiency of public and private buildings and increase the UK’s housing stock remain significant. Allied to our strategy of expanding value-added services in the Merchant businesses and maximising the growth potential of Toolstation, these structural drivers leave the Group well placed for future outperformance.”