Travis Perkins profits jump as Help to Buy boosts confidence
Building merchant Travis Perkins has reported a rise in profits before tax of 12 per cent to £321m for the year ended 31 December.
Revenue climbed to over £5bn, with annual growth of five per cent on a like-for-like basis. The company partly attributed the rising confidence in the building industry to the government's controversial Help to Buy scheme.
John Carter, chief executive, commented:
2013 was another good year for Travis Perkins and the momentum in the second half of last year has continued into 2014. The Group is well placed to benefit from the upturn in UK building activity and in particular the strength of housing transactions. We remain focussed on a disciplined approach to investing in the opportunities we see in each of our businesses to grow and improve returns.
However, Travis Perkins noted that the UK market for building and construction materials was still, in December 2013, 13 per cent below the peak levels of 2008.
Consumer markets were restrained until the towards the end of the year when they began to show signs of growth.
The company also benefited from modestly higher than expected property profits on disposals completed at the end of the year. The final dividend was up 24 per cent to 21p.