Builders’ merchant group Travis Perkins has posted robust results for the first-half of the year, despite continued struggles in its plumbing and heating division.

The Group’s revenue for its general merchanting division increased by 7.8% to £2.94bn for the six months ended 30 June 2015. This additional growth was achieved through the opening of new branches and the inclusion of Primaflow and Rudridge into the company’s portfolio.

With continued market outperformance, the Group has reported strong sales growth in its heavyside categories.

Despite this, the building supplies company has continued to see a decline in its plumbing and heating division with revenues down 0.7%. The company stated intense price competition impacted sales in both its Plumbing Trade Supplies and F & P Wholesale businesses. However, the Group has noted signs of a recovery in the local bathroom installer market, which is served by the City Plumbing Supplies business.

The company’s contracts division, which includes Keyline and CCF, has reported a 17.9% rise in revenue, with both businesses taking significant market share. Meanwhile the consumer business, which includes DIY chain Wickes, enjoyed an 8.6% increase in revenue to £693m with like-for-like sales growth consistently above 6% through the first half of the year.

John Carter, chief executive officer of Travis Perkins, said: "The Group has delivered a strong underlying performance in the first half. Our key strategic priorities are unchanged; modernising general merchanting, transforming Wickes and completing the plumbing and heating re-segmentation programme.

"We continue to anticipate a full year result in line with expectations and delivering against our targets including low double-digit profit growth and sales outperformance of our markets.

"In support of these targets we have increased both capital and operational investment in our businesses to improve our customer propositions across range, availability and value, while allowing us to leverage the scale of the business."