LONDON (Reuters) - Travis Perkins (L:TPK), Britain's largest distributor of building materials, on Tuesday said that its total revenue in the first three weeks of April was down two thirds from the same period last year because of the coronavirus crisis.
The group, which trades from more than 20 businesses including Travis Perkins builders merchants, Wickes, Toolstation and Tile Giant, closed all its businesses when Britain went into lockdown on March 23 but has been operating a reduced branch network this month.
Last month Travis Perkins withdrew its market guidance, suspended its proposed full-year 2019 dividend and paused the process for the demerger of home improvements retailer Wickes.
About half of the group's 30,000 workforce were furloughed under the government's job retention scheme for the first three weeks of the lockdown.
In recent weeks the group has been working with customers, suppliers, trade bodies and the government to develop safe-working protocols that can be applied across the construction supply chain to enable more activity to be carried out under lockdown.
Since April 20 the group has been opening more of its merchant branch network, running a service-light, non-contact operating model.
It said that it had traded well in the first two and a half months of 2020. Performance then took a significant hit from the pandemic and the introduction of lockdown measures.
Total first-quarter sales fell 4.6% and were down 3.8% on a like-for-like basis.
Shares in Travis Perkins, down 36% this year, stood at 10.20 pounds at Monday's close, valuing the business at 2.56 billion pounds.