Travis Perkins sales slow as DIY chains hit

Sales at Wickes-owner Travis Perkins slowed in the past three months as the economic squeeze deterred people from buying new kitchens and bathrooms.

The plumbing, builders merchant and DIY group said like-for-like sales overall rose by 5.9 per cent in the nine months to 30 September, compared with a 7.2 per cent rise in the first six months of the year.

Wickes, the 200-store DIY chain, has been hit hardest with same-store sales down by 2 per cent in the past 13 weeks.

The problems in the sector have seen two rivals, Focus DIY and Moben, go under this year. Wickes bought 13 stores from Focus, which it says have now been fully integrated into its business but added that weakening consumer confidence continues to hit major purchases.

Kitchen and bathroom sales at Wickes have fallen by 12.4 per cent over the past nine months, while sales of other core product lines rose by 2.7 per cent. Like-for-like sales over the nine months fell by 0.5 per cent, with sales overall up by 1.2 per cent.

The group added that builders’ merchant Travis and plumbing business BSS were offsetting the weakness in consumer spending. Travis’s like-for-like sales rose by 7.7 per cent in the latest three months and were up by 9.6 per cent over the year so far.

Chief executive Geoff Cooper said Wickes and Travis had won bigger shares of their respective markets.

The group opened a further 32 branches in the quarter and after the sale of 29 Buck & Hickman branded outlets at the end of the quarter now has about 1,800 in total.