Travis Perkins has reported a rise in revenue but reduced profits for the first half of its financial year.

The company said its revenue grew by 3.5%to £3.2bn for the six months to June 30 while pre-tax profits fell by 4.5% to £168m. Adjusted operating profit was 2.1% lower at £190m largely due to the challenging plumbing and heating market and recent investments made by the Group including in information systems.

“We executed our plan well and delivered a solid overall performance in the first half of 2017 against a challenging market backdrop of pronounced input cost inflation and market volatility,” said chief executive officer John Carter. “The robust growth and outperformance in our Contracts and Consumer divisions build on strong customer propositions and successful investments in those businesses.

“In the first half of the year the Group made a conscious decision to recover input cost inflation selectively through disciplined pricing activity. While this had some impact on trading volume, it enabled us to maintain Group gross margins and positions the business well for the future.

“Today we have announced a comprehensive transformation plan in our Plumbing & Heating division which is designed to stabilise performance and create more options to maximise shareholder value. While we remain cautious on the macro-economic outlook for the second half, the Group remains focused on executing the clear plans it has in place which will deliver strong cash generation and maximise returns."