Wolseley has turned around its business, recording a healthy boost in full-year pre-tax profits to £391m (2010: £328m loss).
Trading profits at the merchant in the year ended July 31 were up 38% to £622m, while sales were up 3% to £13.5bn.
“We continued to grow our business and revenue growth trends in August and September have been similar to the fourth quarter last year,” said Wolseley chief executive Ian Meakins.
“However, recent economic forecasts have weakened and over time this is likely to have an impact on our markets.”
He described the result as “decent” despite challenging economic conditions, with better customer service driving sales and strong trading profit growth”.
UK sales were 3% lower, although continuing businesses were 2% ahead, mainly due to commodity price inflation. Public sector revenue waned in the second half, while the more resilient RMI market held up “reasonably well”.
UK trading profits of £109m were £18m ahead of last year. The trading margin was 5.2% (2010: 4.9%).
The US business, the largest in the group, recorded trading profits of £314m (2010: £239m).
