CONSUMER DIVISION DRIVES TRAVIS PERKINS GROWTH
Merchanting chain Travis Perkins has announced strong sales and profits growth for its consumer division, which includes Tile Giant.
The company’s annual results for 2016 show 6.5% like-for-like growth in revenue, with total sales in the consumer division up 9.5% and operating profits increased 6.4% to £101m. As well as Tile Giant, the Travis Perkins consumer division includes Wickes, Toolstation and bathrooms.com.
During the year, the company continued to roll out its new Wickes store format, featuring improved kitchen and bathroom displays. There were 46 new outlets during the year, bringing the total number of new-format stores to 62. Further roll-outs of the new-format stores are planned for the coming year.
The Toolstation network also continued to expand in 2016, with a further 36 stores opening in the UK, and seven shops in the Netherlands. Online-only ranges were introduced for the first time, with over 1,000 products available to customers, along with improved marketing campaigns.
Sales across the whole group, including the 650-strong Travis Perkins chain, were up 4.6% to £6,217m for the year, or 2.7% on a like-for-like basis. Adjusted pre-tax profits were flat at £381m. Adjusted operating profit was £409m, down 1% on the previous year.