Travis Perkins Share Price (TPK)

An increase in public infrastructure would also help, but again this will take a while to feed through. The shares have performed well this year, anticipating that pick-up in demand, though they lost 37p to �12.71 yesterday on profit taking. On just short of 13 times' earnings, they look a good way of investing in any housing recovery, but that is taking a long-term view. Hold, says The Times's Tempus.

There wasn't a lot that could have gone wrong for a company like Travis Perkins that didn't last year. Aside from economic uncertainty and weak consumer confidence limiting purchases of kitchens and bathrooms at its Wickes branches, the weather was awful and inflation, generally good news for such retailers, subdued. This year the construction market is expected to grow by one or two percentage points. There may also be some upside if the weather is not quite as bad. The biggest boost would be a rise in the level of transactions in the housing market. Some such rise has indeed been manifest for the past three months. This will, however, take six months or so to feed through into purchases of basic building materials and new kitchens and bathrooms.

The company said it has continued with tight cost control, with lfl overheads down 2.3%. It reported an underlying £155m debt reduction, with net debt down to £452m. "A gradual recovery in our markets, together with targeted like-for-like volume outperformance and tight control of costs should deliver an expansion of our operating margins," Cooper added. "The group has an excellent track record of deploying self-help initiatives to achieve these goals, and our position as the UK's leader in building materials strengthens our position and prospects."

Building materials group Travis Perkins boosted annual revenue and profit, despite continued headwinds in construction markets, and underlined its confidence in future trading by lifting its dividend payment by a quarter. Pre-tax profit rose 16.2% to £313.3m for the year ended December 31st 2012 while group revenue climbed 1.4% to £4.84bn during the period. On a like-for-like basis revenue was down 1.4%. The Northampton based builders' merchant said a full year dividend of 25p has been offered, up 25% from last time. Adjusted operating margins have remained at 6.7%. Chief Executive Geoff Cooper commented: "Whilst there are indications, for the first time in a while, that growth will return to our markets later this year, we anticipate volatile conditions will persist in the short term, further troubling weaker operators." However despite continued tough conditions in construction markets, Travis Perkins said it has made good progress with strong cash generation and development of its networks and services in the UK and the launch of a small scale trial in continental Europe.

Travis Perkins noted that Solfex generated a cumulative annual revenue growth rate of 179% over the past three years. In December 2012 it was listed as the UK's fifth fastest growing private company in the Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100.

Building materials group Travis Perkins has bought renewable energy firm, Solfex Energy Systems, for eight million pounds. The firm said that Solflex, which focuses on solar thermal and photovoltaic products, would be a valuable addition to its plumbing and heating division. "Our strategy of offering our customers an integrated approach to energy efficient building will be greatly enhanced by the market leading proposition created by the Solfex team," said Chief Executive Geoff Cooper. In its last financial year, Solfex reported revenues of £21.9m and an operating profit of £2.2m. The initial cash payment of £8m for the firm would be supplemented by further amounts dependent on performance.