Wickes has seen a 2% increase in delivered revenue for the first half of 2011, despite a 13% drop in kitchen and bathroom sales as consumers scaled back big-ticket spending.
According to owner Travis Perkins (TP), core sales increased 4.1% at Wickes, partly due to a 40% increase in sales from its multichannel operation, which now represents 6% of the business.

During the six months to June 30, the retailer acquired 13 stores from Focus for £8.4m, allowing the further roll out of smaller formats in areas which might not have previously supported a larger Wickes store. The company plans to end the year with at least 212 full stores, an increase of 17 since the end of 2010.

TP, which also owns Tile Giant and Toolstation, saw group revenue soar 54% to £2,347m, up 7.2% on a like-for-like basis. Network expansion contributed 1.6% of revenue growth, with 46% coming from plumbing firm BSS, which the group acquired in late 2010.

Profit before tax was up 25% to £140m, which, after the effect of the issue of 33m shares following the BSS acquisition, resulted in adjusted earnings per share rising 13% to 45p.

The company's merchanting sector saw sales rise 1.7%, while its retail arm increased sales by just 0.3% on a like-for-like basis.

The report said: "The retail market has continued to display a similar trait to that established in 2010. In 2011 it has been adversely impacted by a combination of customers purchasing in advance of the January 2011 VAT increase, low consumer confidence and, from April, higher personal taxes further reducing spending power."

These factors have particularly hit the market for big-ticket items, it added.

Tile Giant saw overall turnover increase by 9.3%, but sales declined 0.6% on a like-for-like basis. The retailer added net four outlets during the period, taking the total number of stores to 105 at the end of June.

Sales at Toolstation increased by 35% year-on-year. With stores now maturing, the dilutive effect of new stores on profits has lessened, added TP, and the company should be profitable this year. It now operates out of 94 sites across the UK.

TP chief executive Geoff Cooper said: "The difficult market backdrop will continue to put pressure on weaker competitors and will lead to further consolidation in our markets, particularly in merchanting. We are now the largest provider of building materials in the UK, and we have market-leading customer propositions that are delivering further gains in market share. We also have an excellent track record of outperforming our market and driving financial performance over a sustained period and consequently look forward to the future with confidence. Our outlook for the full year remains unchanged with a weaker trading pattern being offset by our achieving BSS synergies earlier than expected."