Travis Perkins shares jumped on Tuesday after Wickes owner announced a better than expected second half performance, the merchant booked £49m pre-tax loss in 2018 compared to £290m the previous year.
Profits were down due to an impairment on relating restructuring costs, to £246m, sale were £6.4bn to 4.8% on an adjusted basis, whilst pre-tax profits rose to £347m to 1.2%.
Boss John Carter said, “The group delivered a solid performance overall in 2018 despite a challenging market backdrop.
“We took concerted self-help actions during the year, and the benefits of this cost reduction, together with improved trading, drove an improved profit performance in the second half of the year.”
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell said, “The stars appear to be aligning for Travis Perkins. The builders’ merchant is simplifying its structure, reinvesting cash in the best parts of the business, trading is picking up in its consumer-facing brand Wickes, and operating profit improved in the second half of the year after a difficult first half.
“This progress will go down well with the market as many had feared that Travis had lost its way over the past few years.”
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