Travis Perkins has strong sales growth in Q3 but prepares to ‘tightly manage’ cost pressures

British home improvement giant Travis Perkins had strong sales growth in the third quarter of the year, but is preparing to weather an inflationary winter. 

The firm had sales growth of 10.7 per cent while its merchandising business had 11.5 per cent, outperforming the individual market. 

The company’s arm which deals with distribution of building materials, Travis Perkins General Merchant, experienced slowing in demand from small customers, as the cost of living and rising energy costs continued to pile pressure on. 

Its revenue was helped by “larger subcontractors across new build commercial and housing, industrial maintenance and infrastructure projects”.

Meanwhile, its Toolstation wing, which supplies tools, returned to growth with sales up more than six per cent following the pandemic. 

Looking ahead to the rest of 2022, it said Toolstation will roll out 80 new branches across UK and Europe.

Against the “challenging market backdrop”  Travis Perkins said it is still focussed on tackling “ input cost inflation” so it can “tightly manage” operating costs. 

The firm added that “forward visibility is limited” and stability remained “uncertain”.

Its Chief Executive Nick Roberts said the company had “delivered a solid performance” with the merchanting arm “again outperforming their markets and an improved performance in Toolstation.”

“During the second half of the year we have seen growing macroeconomic uncertainty. We are focused on maintaining cost discipline in our businesses”, he added.