Insider Media Limited

Travis Perkins, the Northampton-based builders’ merchant, is reporting a rise of 20 per cent in its profits for the year ending 31 December 2010. The results, released this morning, show profits at the company jumped to £217m during a year which saw the acquisition of plumbing supplier BSS for £799m.

The profits hike was alongside a lift in revenue, which rose to 8 per cent to £3.15bn.

Geoff Cooper, chief executive, said: "The group made excellent progress in 2010, a year in which our organic development strategy, against a background of depressed levels of construction activity, produced a strong financial performance.”

He added that the company’s position had been “considerably strengthened” by the acquisition of BSS.

The BSS buyout was completed on 14 December, after a protracted deal process stretching back to last summer.

Cooper added: “We approached the BSS opportunity with great confidence because we believed BSS was strategically strong and financially very attractive. Although we had a considerable amount of plumbing business through our various brands, we were in the second tier of national companies operating in the market.

"By acquiring BSS and combining our activities, the group has been promoted to a leading position in the market, making us a powerful force in serving customers and helping suppliers meet their own strategies.”

The group said it hopes to save around £25m from the BSS acquisition, comprising £19m in respect of goods for resale and £6m of overhead savings.

Also reported in the company's results were the prformance of its retail division, in which like for like sales were up 0.2 per cent. The merchanting aspect increased 7.3 per cent over the year.

Cooper said that the company’s three targets for 2011 were to drive organic growth, drive cash generation and to integrate BSS to get the best out of the acquisition.