Wickes weakness hits Travis Perkins

THE British consumer has pulled the plug on new bathrooms and kitchens, as DIY retailer Wickes - bought by builders' merchant Travis Perkins in a £950m deal in February - admitted sales are plunging.

In a half-year trading statement, Travis Perkins said the acquisition of Wickes had pulled down its own underlying sales, after the DIY chain reported an 8.4% like-for-like collapse in sales from its showrooms.

'The home-delivered showroom market continues to be soft as consumers rein back expenditure on larger-ticket items,' Travis Perkins said. Its shares have fallen 10% since the acquisition of Wickes and the group today warned the City its profit forecast of around £258m for the full year are now too optimistic.

'We expect the trading environment for the remainder of 2005 to continue to be challenging,' said the company. 'Whilst we have taken prompt action to reduce costs, this will not fully offset the impact of the current trading environment.'

Trading from all Wickes outlets is down 4.9% for the first half of the year, against the 2.7% year-on-year fall last reported at the end of April.

That has hit the whole group, with like-for-like trading this year down by 0.5%. Underlying trading at Travis Perkins outlets is up 1.6%, though that is weaker than the 2.4% reported two months ago. At its City Plumbing showrooms, trading is down 4.1%.