travis perkins lodge way house harlestone road northampton  nn5 7ug  tel 01604 752 424
travis perkins plc annual report  accounts 2004
tra vis perkins plc
2004
annu al repor t  a ccounts
a leader in builders’ merchanting and home improvement retailing travis perkins
group branches
travis perkins 

Summary:
 results
the company enjoyed a further year of strong performance
in 2004 operating profit before amortisation of goodwill
of £174 million 2003 £153 million rose 14 per cent 
to £2182 million from £1914 million in 2003 turnover
increased by 9 per cent to £18266 million from 
£16783 million sales growth was again driven by our
ongoing programme of investment in the acquisition of
independent merchants and in the opening of new 
brownfield sites indeed in 2004 the company achieved a record number of oneoff branch
openings group likeforlike sales were up 18 per cent 
the overall operating margin before goodwill amortisation for the year moved up again from 
114 per cent to 119 per cent as a result of further improvements in procurement overhead
efficiencies gained as the group grew and our overall culture of continuous improvement 
city plumbing supplies “cps” and commercial ceiling factors “ccf” performed well during
a period of considerable restructuring in both businesses jayhard and bg have now been fully
integrated into the cps management structure and significant investment was made in the
acquired branches last year with further similar investment planned for 2005 gross profit as a
percentage of sales improved further on a likeforlike basis
developments
the past year saw significant growth in the rate of addition of oneoff branches both from the
acquisition of smaller independent businesses and from the opening of brownfield sites in all 
67 new sites were added the company completed 16 consolidations mostly within the plumbing
and heating network as opportunities were taken to reduce operating costs while maintaining
sales the net addition to the branch total was 51
tra vis perkins plc
6
chief executive’s review
for the year ended 31 december 2004
brick matching
“build the
dream”
website advice
e commerce
estimating
services
forest products
heavyside
land finding
service
lightside
online account
management
paint mixing
plumbing and
heating
self build
advice
timber
toolhire tra vis perkins plc
7
the brick library at travis perkins northampton
decorating centres are available in many branches tra vis perkins plc
8
the acquisition of 30 mixed merchant branches and the opening of 21 brownfield sites filled a number of key gaps
in the geographic coverage of the travis perkins’ brand there were also 4 consolidations at the same time a further
3 outlets were added to the keyline branch network the group’s specialist network of plumbing and heating
branches under the cps brand increased by a net 1 branch comprising 4 acquired branches 9 brownfield openings
and 12 consolidations the total amount spent on acquisitions was £39 million 
by the end of 2004 the group was trading from 751 outlets compared with 700 a year earlier 
branch improvements
w e have continued to invest in the branch network in order to ensure continuous improvement in customer facilities
during the year redevelopment projects were carried out at numerous travis perkins’ branches including those 
in caerphilly gastard erdington shepshed crosby oswestry northampton cromer slough urmston forfar 
and w atford
the upgrading of keyline branches continued with refurbishments at colchester swindon elgin norwich and
kingswinford two ccf branches were moved into larger improved units in nottingham and cardiff a major
upgrading programme of bathroom showroom facilities at more than 25 cps branches was also completed during 
the year
information technology 
w e have continued to invest in the quality of our information technology infrastructure notably through the
installation across the branch network of over four thousand new pc’s together with supporting server capacity
having achieved “chip and pin” accreditation the introduction of this technology for debit and credit card
authorisation across the group was included in the pc rollout programme along with the replacement of all of our
pointofsale scanners wireless terminals have been added to the control systems at our distribution centre in
brackmills resulting in increased efficiency and throughput w e are also in the process of piloting the use of wireless
handheld terminals in a number of our branches 
the group’s websites have been given a new look and an enhanced range of facilities on a consistent basis for the
various brands a more comprehensive section on financial and corporate information has also been included  a new online training initiative was launched during the year as a result suppliers can now upload training material
direct to our intranet systems and all branch staff are now able to access it via the upgraded pc network this has
improved the effectiveness of product training programmes across the group
customer service
w e have continued to monitor seven key customer service performance indicators derived from data captured by our
information systems and extended the methodology to monitor suppliers on issues that can assist in improving
further our customer service performance the information collected is made available in real time to our suppliers
via an extranet system thereby ensuring fast and effective feedback
health and safety
the company remains committed to achieving and maintaining high standards in health and safety last year two
extensive audits of health and safety practice were conducted one our own internal health and safety audit has
resulted in each of our branches now being able to produce a health and safety action plan for the year in addition
our lead authority northampton borough council carried out a detailed review of our health and safety practices
and produced a safety management review together with recommendations for improvement the conclusions of these
audits together with a detailed analysis of ‘accident causations’ will form the basis of our health and safety action
plan for 2005 and beyond 
environment
our environmental management system accreditation to iso 14001 was maintained during the year over the past
three years of our first environmental improvement plan good progress has been made in reducing adverse impact
on the environment particularly in the areas of timber certification waste management volatile organic compound
emissions and co
2
emissions a new improvement plan will be produced in the first part of this year and new targets
will be set to reduce further our environmental impact
timber procurement has continued to be a major focus of attention and we have increased further the percentage of
products procured from sources certified to recognised forestry standards chain of custody accreditation for both
forest stewardship council “fsc” and the programme for the endorsement of forest certification “pefc”
schemes has now been achieved for all travis perkins and keyline branches selling timber products 
tra vis perkins plc
9 future expansion
w e see significant additional scope for profitable growth of the travis perkins keyline ccf and
cps brands through the continued strategy of acquisition of regional groups and independent
merchants and the opening of brownfield sites 
the acquisition of wickes was announced on 16 december 2004 and following shareholder
approval and office of fair trading clearance was completed on 11 february 2005 this
acquisition further strengthens our position in the builders merchant market as approximately one
third of wickes’ sales are to tradesmen and provides us with a new platform for growth in the uk’s
expanding diy sector in addition we foresee substantial synergy benefits being achieved from
improvements in procurement logistics and other process efficiencies
after another year of good progress we remain confident of our ability to achieve further growth in
the future
staff
on behalf of the board i would like to thank all our employees for their contribution to the success
of the company during 2004
geoff cooper  chief executive
4 march 2005
tra vis perkins plc
10
aggregates
blocks
bricks
cement
drainage
estimating 
services
roofing
materials
timber
cement mixers
gardening
equipment
hand tools
heaters and
dehumidifiers
mini diggers
mini towers
nail guns
protective 
equipment
power tools
routers
sanders
saws
scaffolding
ladders and
steps tra vis perkins plc
11
the loft conversion takes shape
an extensive range of tools are available for hire