(Reuters) -British building materials supplier Travis Perkins warned on Thursday of flat profits this year, below analyst expectations, sending its shares down to a more than 15-year low.
Shares in the FTSE 250 firm, which fell 12% in 2024, declined as much as 13% in early trade to 478 pence, their lowest since July 2009.
The company said it expected 2025 adjusted operating profit, excluding property profits, to be broadly in line with last year’s 141 million pounds ($182 million).
Peel Hunt analysts said in a note that implied about a 20% cut to analysts’ consensus estimate.
Britain’s housebuilding and home improvement sectors saw subdued demand for most of 2024 as a weak economy and high borrowing costs drove homebuyers away and led many property owners to delay repair works.
Travis Perkins said uncertainty over the pace of a construction market recovery and still elevated interest rates had made for a tough start to 2025, leading to a modest decline in volumes at its flagship merchanting businesses. They accounted for about 82% of overall revenue last year.
The company, which lowered its 2024 profit outlook twice, reported a 23% fall in adjusted operating profit to 152 million pounds for last year. That compares with analysts’ average estimates of 134.5 million pounds, according to LSEG data.
Travis Perkins announced in March that CEO Pete Redfern would step down due to ill health after just over five months in office, news that sent its shares down to a five-year low.
Industry peer Breedon Group last month posted annual results ahead of expectations, helped by its Irish and U.S. markets, while SIG forecast a recovery in the second half of 2025 in its key UK, German and French markets.
($1 = 0.7742 pounds)
(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru. Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Mark Potter)
