Travis Perkins Earnings Ahead Of Views; Reinstates Dividend

2nd Jul 2010 07:27

By Lilly Vitorovich Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LONDON (Dow Jones)--U.K. building-materials retailer Travis Perkins PLC (TPK.LN) said Friday that its first-half results are ahead of management expectations, underpinned by the strong rebound in trading, and that it intends to resume dividend payments. Travis Perkins also expects to update the market on its takeover talks with specialist distributor BSS Group PLC (BTSM.LN) "shortly," Chief Executive Geoff Cooper said. In May, the group announced it was in advanced talks to buy BSS for more than GBP553 million. The offer comprises 232.91 pence in cash, 0.2608 new Travis Perkins shares per BSS Group share and the BSS dividend of 6.09 pence per share. Travis Perkins also is offering a mix-and-match facility so that shareholders can indicate whether they would prefer more equity or more cash. The enlarged group would create a plumbing and heating trade and retail distribution business in the U.K., with operational and financial size and scale to purchase products more competitively and secure the benefits of global sourcing. For the six months to June 30, group revenue was up 4.7% from the same period a year earlier. Like-for-like sales rose 3.4%. In May and June, like-for-like revenues in merchanting and retail were up 10% and 1.6%, respectively. Travis Perkins shares closed at 709 pence Thursday on the London Stock Exchange, valuing the company at GBP1.48 billion. -By Lilly Vitorovich, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-0-207 842 9290; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 02, 2010 02:27 ET (06:27 GMT)