Travis Perkins PLC on Tuesday said it swung to a profit in 2021 as the market recovered, and it will commence another share buyback for up to £70 million.

The Northampton-based building supplies retailer reported revenue of £4.59 billion in 2021, up 24% year-on-year from £3.70 billion. This was also 11% ahead of the pre-pandemic comparator of 2019, when discontinued Retail and Plumbing & Heating segments are excluded.

Travis spun out retailer Wickes Group PLC as its own London listing in April last year and sold its Plumbing & Heating business in September.

Travis Perkins said the boost to revenue was the result of an enhanced customer proposition, following investment in network capacity and technology. It also was helped by the ‘robust’ recovery of the repair, maintenance & improvement market as well as the building market for new homes.

It swung to a pretax profit of £305.6 million in 2021 from a loss of £20.3 million in 2020.

The retailer said this was the result of recovering revenue growth in the year, after 2020 was significantly hit by Covid. It also reported a good gross margin, and said the benefits of restructuring undertaken in 2020 were realised in 2021.

It reinstated dividends in 2021, and proposed a final payout of 26.0 pence per share, bringing the ordinary total to 38.0p. This follows the suspension of dividends in 2020. A special dividend of 35.0p also was paid out during the year, following the £325 million sale of its Plumbing & Heating business to HIG Capital LLC.

Having mostly completed a £170 million share buyback programme, Travis announced it has launched another buyback for up to £70 million. This will start on Tuesday and be completed by July 8.

Travis Perkins said macroeconomic trends in 2022, such as the improved levels of housing transactions, the move to hybrid working arrangements, and growth in new housing developments, will support volume growth in its core markets.

Travis Perkins’ share price was down 1.9% to 1,433.50 pence each in London late on Tuesday morning.

‘2021 has been a year of significant operational and strategic progress for the group, completing our portfolio actions and subsequently setting out our ambition to be the leading partner to the construction industry. Whilst the rapidly recovering market created challenges around inflation and product availability, we have navigated them well to deliver an outstanding financial performance, ’ said Chief Executive Officer Nick Roberts.

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