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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/travis-wary-despite-strong-start.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="Wickes owner Travis Perkins has revealed a jump in annual profits" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/min-travis-wary-despite-strong-start.jpg" alt="Wickes owner Travis Perkins has revealed a jump in annual profits"/></a></p>
<p>Builders&#8217; merchant Travis Perkins has revealed a jump in annual profits but admitted activity in its core market remained 20% below its 2008 peak.</p>
<p>The group &#8211; one of the largest suppliers to the UK&#8217;s building and construction industry with a network of more than 600 branches &#8211; said it expected the merchanting sector to continue its gradual recovery this year, while conditions facing its Wickes DIY business were likely to remain soft.</p>
<p>Reporting underlying profits of £216.7 million for 2010, an increase of 20% on a year earlier, Travis said it had also made a positive start to 2011, albeit against easier comparisons with a year earlier.</p>
<p>Like-for-like sales in January were up by 22% in merchanting, 12% in retail and by 8% at the BSS plumbing supplies business it acquired last year. Sales trends in February have weakened but remain in positive territory.</p>
<p>The Northampton-based company added: &#8220;Despite starting the year well we expect conditions for the next 12 months to remain difficult.</p>
<p>&#8220;The merchanting market fell by over 30% from its peak in 2008 and although activity has picked up a little, from a longer term perspective, activity levels are currently around 20% below their peak.&#8221;</p>
<p>Travis said all 11 businesses in its portfolio outgrew their rivals and increased profits in 2010, while it described the acquisition of BSS for £558 million as a &#8220;major strategic step forward&#8221;.</p>
<p>With 439 branches in the UK and annual revenues of £1.35 billion, the deal made Travis the leading player in the trade and retail distribution of plumbing and heating products. It was also the largest undertaken by Travis since the £950 million takeover of the Wickes DIY chain in 2005.</p>
<p>Across the group, revenues rose 8% to £3.15 billion &#8211; up 5% on a like-for-like basis &#8211; while profits including one-off items were £196.8 million against £212.7 million a year earlier.</p>
<p>Travis shares opened 2% higher on Wednesday.</p>
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