Shares in builders merchant Travis Perkins fell 5% after declining sales at its DIY chain Wickes reduced profit growth.

The company had issued a trading update in July that alerted the City that profit was going to fall below predictions, but the results came in at the lower end of revised forecasts.

Pre-tax profit rose 9.3% to 拢110m in the six months to 30 June, held back by tough trading conditions that drove like-for-like sales down 5% at Wickes.

Share price dropped 83p to 1475p after the announcement on Monday, and a further 30p on to 1445p on Tuesday. Analysts said that the shares were unlikely to perform well until there was a clear upturn in consumer spending.

The company, which has shed 750 staff out of 14,000, said it would make 150 more redundancies in back-office functions, largely as a result of the integration of Wickes, which Travis Perkins bought in January for 拢950m.

DIY has suffered more than other non-food sectors this summer

Travis Perkins chief executive Geoff Cooper

Geoff Cooper, the chief executive of Travis Perkins, said: 鈥淭he UK retail environment has experienced a tough summer, with the DIY sector suffering more than most other non-food sectors. The cut in interest rates, although helpful, has not resulted in a significant change in sentiment.鈥�

The company did increase its interim dividend by 15.8% to 11p a share.