UK’s Travis Perkins shows resilience with quarterly sales rise

LONDON (Reuters) -Travis Perkins, Britain’s biggest supplier of building materials, said it had a resilient third quarter with underlying sales growth of 7.4%.

The group said total sales rose 10.7% over the three months to Sept. 30 as it benefited from its exposure to a diverse range of end markets – from small independent builders through to large contractors delivering national infrastructure projects.

It said its core merchanting business saw some slowing of demand through the period in the smaller trade customer segment although demand from larger repair and maintenance contractors held up well.

“Given the challenging market backdrop, the group remains focused on the recovery of elevated levels of input cost inflation and continues to tightly manage the operating cost base,” it said on Thursday.

The group, whose shares have fallen 49% this year, forecast a full year operating profit around the middle of the current range of market expectations – 304-340 million pounds ($341-$381 million).

Activity among British construction companies improved unexpectedly last month, although the outlook darkened as growth in new orders dried up, S&P Global/CIPS reported earlier this month.

($1 = 0.8921 pounds)

(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Sarah Young)