Travis added Wickes to its stable in 2004

The company, which bought the Wickes chain for �950m late last year, said it did not expect the market to strengthen until the middle of 2006.

However, merging Wickes and cost controls helped boost profit by �10m to �110m in the six months through June.

Turnover increased by 41% to �1.2bn in the period.

Like-for-like sales were down 7.4% at Wickes in July and August, the start of the second half of its trading year, the company reported.

'Challenging'

Last month's interest rate cut has yet to have any impact on consumer spending, so Travis Perkins said it plans to continue cutting costs.

At the moment we're estimating it will be mid-2006 before we see any kind of pick-up Geoff Cooper, chief executive See Travis Perkins' share price

Travis Perkins believes the housing market will pick up again half-way through 2006.

The company warned it may take another six to nine months after that for homeowners to bring their wallets back to DIY and home improvement stores.

"While we anticipate that trading will remain challenging, we are confident that the group will make further progress," said Geoff Cooper, chief executive.

"At the moment, we're estimating it will be mid-2006 before we see any kind of pick-up."

As part of its cost cutting drive the Northampton-based company - which employs around 16,000 workers in 972 locations - has cut staff numbers by 4.7% over the past year.