Travis Perkins Q1 revenues fall 3.7% on weak building sector demand

Building products supplier Travis Perkins said first quarter revenue fell 3.7% as weak demand in the construction sector continued to impact trading.

The company on Thursday said it general merchant business continued to gain market share but, with trading volumes remaining subdued, sales across its merchanting segment were down by 4.4% in the three months to March 31.

Revenues at its Toolstation UK chain fell 0.9% due to weak demand in the renovation, maintenance and improvement market.

Pricing had largely stabilised but remained lower than prior year, primarily due to rollover impact of timber deflation, with this trend expected to continue through first half of year, Travis Perkins said.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com