DAVY VIEW

Travis Perkins has announced that it has initiated discussions regarding the sale of Toolstation Benelux. While unsurprising, the clarity is welcome and an unhelpful drag on operating profit would be removed. Interim results also confirm that trading conditions in the UK remain challenging, and this is expected to remain the case over the rest of the year. That said, the underlying operating profit result for the half was broadly in line with expectations and similar to the H1 2025 result. Evidence of stability, albeit at a low level, is encouraging and outlook comments suggests changes to current year underlying operating profit estimates may be limited.