'Good year' for Travis Perkins
Builders' merchant Travis Perkins has increased pre-tax profit by almost 40 per cent to £269.6m as it boosted its market share despite a "depressed" construction market.
Revenue rose by 52 per cent to £4.78bn for the year ended 31 December at the Northampton-based company, compared with £3.15bn in 2010, up 6 per cent on a like-for-like basis.
Chief executive Geoff Cooper said: "2011 was a good year for Travis Perkins. Despite a depressed construction market, we improved services to customers, gained market share, even before the expansion of our network and exceeded our targets from the integration of BSS, continued to outperform our markets, and won further market share."
The company said BSS acquisition synergies realised in 2011 exceeded expectations at £20m, with "expected synergies" for 2012 increased to £30m.
Travis Perkins reduced net debt by £191m to £583m for the year and announced a total dividend per share up by 33 per cent to 20p, including a final dividend of 13.5p.
"Having built the UK's largest distributor of building materials, we will be focusing on growing returns. With the prospect of the market softening as we go into 2012, the continued improvement in our offer to customers and gains from strategic developments will be the engine of this growth," Cooper added.
"Our management team has proven itself capable of performing well in tough markets and outgrowing our competitors. We look forward to another year of solid progress."
The £24m Toolstation acquisition completed on 3 January 2012 but is to be reviewed by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
