Travis Perkins PLC (LON:TPK) has said sales for the first three weeks of April were down by two-thirds on 2019 due to the coronavirus crisis.
The builders' merchant and home improvement retailer said it has been partially active during the lockdown, delivering services to essential construction programmes such as the Nightingale hospital network and national infrastructure maintenance.
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In a trading update, the FTSE 250-listed firm also said group sales in the quarter to March 31 dropped by 5%.
It noted that half of its staff were furloughed for the first three weeks of the lockdown while senior management are taking a 20% pay cut for the three months to July.
Travis Perkins said that a business rates holiday will save it £90mln per year, while cash outflow in the first month of closures was £50mln, though that is expected to be lower over the next weeks.
As of April 24, the firm said it had £522mln in the bank, £400mln of which came from a fully drawn revolving credit facility.
"The shares are down 40% in the crisis, which we think overdoes the financial risk and is taking quite a pessimistic view of the recovery path of repair, maintenance and improvement [sector]," analysts at Liberum commented in a note.
Shares rose 2% to 1,037.5p on Tuesday in early trades.
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