Revenue increased by 6.5%, with like-for-like revenue up 3.8%.
Chief executive officer John Carter said: "The Group has delivered a good performance in 2015 despite the weaker than expected RMI [repair, maintenance and improvement] market in the second half of the year. We made very good progress on our key strategic priorities; modernising general merchanting, transforming Wickes and re-segmenting the plumbing and heating division, and we continued to improve our customer propositions, delivering access to greater ranges with better availability.”
The company believes that the growth drivers in its markets remain strong and Carter welcomed the return to growth of mortgage approvals and secondary housing transactions in the second half of 2015. “This has supported good growth in RMI sales for the Group in January and February 2016. This gives us further confidence that through our strategy we will successfully deliver against our medium-term targets of sales outperformance, low double-digit profit growth and improving returns."
General merchanting revenue increased by 5.3%, 3.9% on a like-for-like basis, outperforming the market with strong growth in heavy-side categories and tool hire. Twelve new or relocated Travis Perkins branches were opened in 2015 in addition to 38 new Benchmarx branches.
Plumbing & Heating revenue grew by 1.3%, a decline of 1.4% on a like-for-like basis. The re-segmentation programme was accelerated through 2015, with the majority of branch conversions and closures completed six months ahead of plan.
Strong sales growth of 13.2%, 8.5% on a like-for-like basis, was driven by Keyline and CCF, with both businesses continuing to take market share.
On the consumer side, the company said that its revenue growth of 8.0% and like-for-like growth of 5.3% demonstrates continued strong market share gains. A further 40 Toolstation stores were opened in 2015 with additional openings committed in 2016.
Carter said that good progress has been made in 2015 in executing the Group's plans, evidenced through improving financial performance and continued out-performance of the markets in which it operates. However, whilst considerable improvements have been accomplished, the Board believes there is further opportunity to grow returns over the medium term, he said.
The long term drivers of growth in the RMI market remain positive and the lagged growth in mortgage approvals and secondary housing transactions suggests the RMI market should recover well in the first half of this year.
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