International building products giant Wolseley has more than halved its annual losses, but remains cautious about recovery in the UK.
The company reported a deficit for the 12 months to July of £328m compared to £766m in the previous year.
Chief executive Ian Meakin attributed the improvement to “continued cost discipline and focus on protecting gross margins” following a programme of restructuring and cost cutting worldwide in 2009.
Turnover for the year was down 10% at £13.2bn, but the decline was only 6% on a like-for-like basis and gross margin was maintained at 27.7%.
In the UK, while revenue was down 9% to £2.46bn due to disposals and branch closures, like-for-like revenue growth in the second half was 5% and annual trading profit was up £36m at £91m, with the RMI market showing best growth. However, Wolseley was not bullish about the UK outlook. It described consumer confidence as fragile and said that government spending cuts could hit its sales.
See this week’s TTJ for more on this story.
