Wickes owner feels the pressure as hard-pressed householders take a holiday from DIY

HARD-PRESSED householders choosing days on foreign beaches ahead of weekends at home sweating over expensive DIY projects mean Wickesowner Travis Perkins will face years of pressure.

The warning came from John Carter, the chief executive, as the company reported what he called “pleasing” interim results showing revenue up 3.5pc to £3.2bn but pre-tax profits slipping by 4.5pc to £168m, as tougher market conditions and rising input costs weighed.

“With DIY you are competing against holidays, sofas and new cars,” the boss of the FTSE 250 business said. “In the past few years we have been successful because, if they can afford it, consumers want to improve their homes. But with consumer confidence and worries about the economy they are leaving doing up the kitchen or bathroom because they work hard and definitely want to go on holiday – that’s almost a given.”

Mr Carter said Travis Perkins’ consumer business, which also owns Tool Station, had revenues 7.3pc higher at £822m in the half, but was seeing the results of an “erosion of disposable income” and rising prices because of the weaker pound after the EU referendum. This pressure was likely to continue “until at least we have some clarity on what shape Brexit will be”, he added. However, Mr Carter said he was confident Travis Perkins would be able to win more business, despite price increases being passed on to maintain margins at the expense of volume.

Although sterling has risen from the lows seen post-referendum, commodity costs such as steel are now on the rise, maintaining the cost pressure.

The core general merchanting business supplying builders reported revenues 1pc higher at £1.055bn, though it is facing similar issues. “People are looking at repairs, and those have to be done, but improvement is being put off,” said the chief executive.

The contracts division servicing larger projects fared better, with sales up 8.3pc at £675m which reflects a stronger general construction market.

The plumbing and heating business shrank 1.5pc with sales slipping to £669m and Mr Carter said it would be restructured in a move to end its “continuing struggles against competitors”.

Analysts at Peel Hunt described Travis Perkins as “running hard to stand still”, noting that profits dropped “as expected with tricky market conditions and extra costs taking their toll”.

Debt was reduced to £377m compared with £510m a year ago, and the dividend was raised 1.6pc to 15.5p. Shares fell 13p to £15.17.