Travis Perkins rally is held back by a slide at Wickes

Builders’ merchant Travis Perkins has hailed a recovery in the UK’s stagnant housing market but the recent snow has hit trading at its Wickes DIY chain.

This took the shine off a robust performance from Travis Perkins, the owner of 636 eponymous builders merchants, which delivered an uplift in annual profits and its dividend.

Its chief executive Geoff Cooper pointed to a recent uptick in mortgage approvals, housing transactions and positive results from housebuilders, which he believes will benefit Travis Perkins in the second half of 2013. He said: “The recovery is coming but not immediately.

But underlying sales fell by a combined 7.6% at its Wickes, Tile Giant and Toolstation chains over the first seven weeks of this year, following the heavy January snow.

Travis Perkins’ pre-tax profits jumped by 16% to £313.3 million last year, enabling it to increase its full-year dividend by a quarter to 25p a share.