Travis Perkins’ consumer arm, which is dominated by Wickes, has reported a 13.9% jump in adjusted operating profit to £41m for the first half of 2015.
- Profits in Travis Perkins’ consumer arm rise to £41m in first half
- Revenues up 8.6% as like-for-likes jump 6%
- Bosses hail impact of “upgraded” one-hour click-and-collect service
Like-for-like sales during the six months ended June 30 also rose 6%, with revenues up 8.6% to £693m as Travis Perkins hailed “continued strong outperformance of the market".
Wickes’ parent company added that its consumer arm’s adjusted operating margin was “maintained” at 5.6%. Progression on gross margin offset £4m that is being ploughed into range reviews at Wickes “to improve the customer proposition".
Click-and-collect services were also “upgraded” during the first half, with Wickes now offering a one-hour service.
Online now accounts for more than 8% of all Wickes' sales, Travis Perkins said, with half of the growth in online sales during the first half coming through click-and-collect.
Travis Perkins chief executive John Carter said: “The group has delivered a strong underlying performance in the first half. Our key strategic priorities are unchanged: modernising general merchanting, transforming Wickes and completing the plumbing and heating re-segmentation programme.
“We continue to anticipate a full-year result in line with expectations and delivering against our targets including low double-digit profit growth and sales outperformance of our markets.
“In support of these targets we have increased both capital and operational investment in our businesses to improve our customer propositions across range, availability and value, whilst allowing us to leverage the scale of the business.”
Travis Perkins said “good growth” in Tile Giant and Toolstation, which opened 18 branches during the period, also contributed to sales growth in its consumer business.
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