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BSS buoys Travis Perkins

12 Oct 11 Last year’s acquisition of plumbing supplies company BSS has pushed up turnover at builders' merchant group Travis Perkins by more than 50%.

Including BSS, acquired in December 2010, Travis Perkins saw its turnover for the first nine months of 2011 rise by 53.4% compared to the same quarter in 2010.

On a proforma basis, group turnover for the nine months was up 5.9%, despite there being one less trading day. This was attributed to “relatively high product inflation and our own market outperformance”.

For the first nine months of 2011 total turnover in the merchanting division was up 11.4%, representing an increase in like-for-like turnover per trading day of 9.6%. Like-for-like turnover per trading day for the third quarter increased by 7.7%.

Total turnover for BSS for the first nine months of 2011 was up by 3.1%; like-for-like turnover per trading day was up 2.3 %. Like-for-like turnover per trading day for the three months to 30 September increased by 2.6%.

Gross margins achieved in the third quarter are in line with the performance of the first six months, slightly ahead of last year in BSS and the retail division and slightly lower in merchanting.

Net debt has reduced in the three months to 30 September, benefiting from the £27m sale of Buck and Hickman. The board said that it was on track for its net debt target of £600m at the year end.

Chief executive Geoff Cooper said: "We continue to take market share against a tough market backdrop, confirming the sustainable strength of our organic growth strategy. Our positive merchanting and BSS performance is balancing the effect of a challenging consumer environment for our retail business.”

Outlook for 2012 remains unchanged from that outlined in July.

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MPU
MPU

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