Travis Perkins swings to loss; revives Wickes demerger plans

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Builders' merchant Travis Perkins swung to a full-year loss, as the pandemic hurt demand, and said it was recommencing a planned demerger of its Wickes DIY chain.

Pre-tax losses for the year through December amounted to £22 million, compared to a year-on-year profit of £123 million, as revenue dropped 12% to £6.16 billion.

Travis Perkins declared no dividends for the year.

The company had put the Wickes demerger process on hold last March, when the pandemic was reaching crisis proportions.

The process had now been revived and was expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2021.

In the second half of 2020, revenue from continuing businesses had returned to growth, at 1.4%, which Travis Perkins said demonstrated the resilience of its business models.

'Whilst uncertainty remains, we have seen a good recovery through the second half which gives us confidence that the fundamental drivers in our markets are robust,' chief executive Nick Roberts said

'The continuing progress against our strategic plans leaves the group well placed to outperform in those markets.'

At 8:48am: (LON:TPK) Travis Perkins PLC share price was 0p at 1295p