Travis Perkins says sales trend ahead of expectations

30th Sep 2009 07:22

Travis Perkins, the leading UK builders' merchant, said sales trends for the last three months are ahead of expectations but its current market consensus for 2010 remains unchanged.The group said turnover for the nine months to the end of September is down 11%. Total turnover in its merchanting division is down by 15.6% in the nine months, though like-for-like sales for the third quarter improved to 11.9%. "Volume relative to peak levels in early 2008 has yet to show signs of sustained improvement and pricing pressure remains with the rate of sales price inflation continuing to decline," it said.Its general merchanting business division total turnover fell 15.9% with like-for-like turnover per trading day down by 16.8% in the nine months. For the third quarter, total turnover fell 15% and like-for-like turnover per trading day was 15.4% lower.In Wickes, total turnover for the nine months was up 0.7%. For the third quarter, like-for-like sales per trading day rose 0.7%, with core products down by 3.0% but showroom sales up by 20.8%. But the group said for the last thirteen weeks, the total like-for-like turnover per day was up by 7.8%. "These sales trends mean that the Group trading for the last three months is ahead of our expectations. However, our outlook for 2010 remains unchanged from that stated in our June interim results announced in July and therefore, given the current uncertainty over the course of this current recession, our view of the current market consensus for 2010 also remains unchanged," said Travis Perkins.The group also announced the appointment of Robert Walker as non-executive director with the intention to succeed Tim Stevenson as non-executive Chairman in May 2010.