The home improvement section of Travis Perkins, Wickes, has seen a solid revival in terms of activity and was offered a flicker of encouragement in trading. It has been reported that the market of builders' merchant also has stabilized, which has been concluded from the recent trends in the market.

It is expected that the income will be better than expected, and steadily moving towards the higher end of expectations in the year, but the group has to maintain a careful view on the prospects of the following year as there are many chances for a lot of pressure on trade as well as the consumers.

The retail division of the group, which essentially is the chain of stores for home improvement, has seen a total rise in the turnover of more than 2.6 per cent in the time period of the 48 weeks to the month of November, and the like for like sales had risen by 2.3 per cent. It has also been reported in a positive note that for the 9 weeks to the month of November, the like for like sales have risen by about 10.2 per cent at Wickes.