Kitchen and bathroom sales slide at Wickes
Published: 12 October 2011
Wickes has reported a 1.2% increase in delivered turnover for the 39 weeks to October 1, with like-for-like delivered sales down 0.5%.
Core product sales, which represent around 80% of turnover, increased by 2.7%, but kitchen and bathroom delivered sales declined 12.4%, hit by continued weak consumer confidence for major purchases.
For the last 13 weeks, delivered like-for-like sales for both core products and kitchen and bathroom were down 2%.
According to the trading statement issued by parent company Travis Perkins this morning, the 13 ex-Focus stores acquired earlier in the year are now all trading as Wickes stores, after the final two sites opened on October 1.
Travis Perkins reported a 5.9% rise in group turnover for the nine months to the end of September. This included BSS in 2010, and included one less trading day for the merchanting and BSS divisions compared with the same period last year. Without these adjustments, overall turnover was ahead by 53.4%.
Total turnover for the company's merchanting division for the first nine months of 2011 rose 11.4%, representing an increase in like-for-like turnover per trading day of 9.6%. Total turnover for BSS for same period was up by 3.1%, while like-for-like turnover per trading day up 2.3%.
Travis Perkins chief executive Geoff Cooper said: "We continue to take market share against a tough market backdrop, confirming the sustainable strength of our organic growth strategy. Our positive merchanting and BSS performance is balancing the effect of a challenging consumer environment for our retail business."