Grafton revenue rises, reaffirms outlook
FTSE 250 builders merchant Grafton posted a rise in revenue for the 10 months to the end of October as it reaffirmed its expectations for the year.
FTSE 250
19,391.30
17:09 19/04/24
FTSE 350
4,341.08
17:09 19/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,296.41
17:08 19/04/24
Grafton Group Ut (CDI)
926.30p
17:15 19/04/24
Support Services
10,465.25
17:10 19/04/24
Revenue was up 9.1%, or 6.9% in constant currency terms, to £2.3bn.
The UK merchanting business saw like-for-like growth of 5.4% in the four months to the end of October versus 4.5% for the first half, helped by a weak comparative in the third quarter. In the 10-month period, the UK business saw LFL growth of 4.9%.
Ireland continued to see strong growth despite an expected moderation, with merchanting LFL growth of 8.4% in the last four months and 10.6% in the 10-month period.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands merchanting business continued to perform strongly with the benefit of broadly based growth in the Dutch economy and increased activity in the secondary and new housing markets. It saw LFL growth of 5.7% in the last four months and 4.8% in the 10-month period.
Chief executive officer Gavin Slark said: "We are pleased with the performance of the group during the period and our expectations for the full year remain unchanged. We anticipate that current trading conditions in the UK merchanting business are likely to continue over the remainder of the year while the Irish and Netherlands businesses should benefit from favourable trading conditions and strong market positions."
Canaccord Genuity said: “Overall a reassuring update with no big surprises and consensus looks well supported; we don't expect to see material changes today.”
At 1010 GMT, the shares were down 4.9% to 783p. Canaccord pointed out that the stock has performed strongly, up by around 55% in the last 12 months and 6% over the last three months.