Travis Perkins Q1 revenues fall amid ‘challenging’ trading

Builders’ merchant Travis Perkins reported a drop in first-quarter sales on Tuesday as it said that trading remained challenging.

In the three months to the end of March, group revenue fell 2.1% on a like-for-like basis.

Revenue in the merchanting business was down 3.2% on a LFL basis, with pricing having stabilised and volumes declining modestly. Travis Perkins said the focus remains "on enhancing customer service by strengthening branch and sales teams".

On the upside, the Toolstation business had a "solid" first quarter, with like-for-like revenue growth of 3.7%. Travis Perkins said it continues "to make good progress on the delivery of maturity benefits and executing actions to enhance operating margin".