UPDATE 2-Travis Perkins sales hit by British lockdown, cash outflow easing

* Operating "service-light" model since late March

* Cash outflow 50 mln stg in first month of lockdown

* Has cash on deposit of 522 mln stg

* Q1 sales down 4.6%

* Shares up 4.1%
(Adds detail, CBI data, shares)

LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - Britain's coronavirus lockdown
knocked two thirds off revenue at Travis Perkins in the
first three weeks of April, although the building materials
distributor said it had traded well during the first two and a
half months of the year.

Shares in Travis Perkins were up 4.1% at 1041 GMT, paring
2020 losses to 34% and valuing the business, which trades from
more than 20 businesses including Travis Perkins builders
merchants, the Wickes home improvement chain, Toolstation and
Tile Giant, at 2.7 billion pounds ($3.4 billion).

The group briefly closed all its operations when Britain
went into lockdown on March 23 but since late March has been
running a "service-light" operating model, focused on call and
collect or direct delivery services.

While its overhead cash outflow was 50 million pounds in the
first month of lockdown, Travis Perkins said that with more
branches beginning to open and a corresponding increase in sales
volume, this was expected to fall over the coming weeks.

Travis Perkins said it has strong liquidity to get it
through the crisis. With a 400 million pound revolving credit
facility fully drawn, it has 522 million pounds of cash on
deposit.

Britain's biggest building supplies distributor is not alone
in suffering the effects of the lockdown.

The Confederation of British Industry said on Tuesday that
the country's retailers suffered their biggest fall in sales
since the 2008 financial crisis in the first half of April as
the pandemic hit demand and forced store closures.

Travis Perkins, which last month withdrew its market
guidance, suspended its proposed full-year dividend and paused
the demerger of Wickes, said its total first-quarter sales fell
4.6% and were down 3.8% on a like-for-like basis.

About half of the group's 30,000 workforce were furloughed
under the government's job retention scheme for the first three
weeks of the lockdown.
($1 = 0.7992 pounds)
(Reporting by James Davey
Editing by David Goodman and Alexander Smith)

Travis Perkins