Wickes-owner Travis Perkins has lost nearly 4% after it blamed wet weather for a weaker performance in April and the early May.
The builders merchant group, which also trades as City Plumbing and BSS, said revenues for the four months to the end of April were up 4.4%, but it saw a slowdown in growth in recent weeks:
After a good first quarter, record levels of rainfall contributed to a weaker performance in April and the early part of May, where activity levels at sites continue to be impacted by the very wet weather.
Travis said its outlook for the year remained unchanged but its shares are down 39p at 953p, and Peel Hunt's Andrew Nussey said:
A highly uncertain consumer environment and hesitancy around capital spending creates earnings risk. While the shares offer good long term value, we sense there may well be better buying opportunities.
Analysts at Liberum Capital said the trading statement was "lacklustre." Liberum's Simon Irwin said Wickes should be less affected by the weather than B&Q owner Kingfisher, down 5.6p at 284.2p:
The next few weeks will be critical. The industry needs some good weather ahead of the Jubilee weekend to get seasonal out the door before they have to start discounting. [Kingfisher's] underlying story is still very strong but near term newsflow is unlikely to be helpful.
