Growth for Wickes

The retail division of Travis Perkins, which basically consists of Wickes, the British DIY chain, increased its sales in 2009 by 4.3 per cent to £ 980.7 mio. The contribution of new openings came to 1.2 per cent of the total. The division's like-for-like growth amounted to 3.2 per cent. Wickes' core product ranges experienced a decline of 0.8 per cent in like-for-like terms. By contrast, the kitchens and bathrooms category notched up an increase of 27.7 per cent. At the end of the first seven weeks the division was 2.4 per cent below the level achieved in the comparable period last year.