Turnover at Grafton declines

GRAFTON Group has said that its turnover for the first half of this year was down slightly, on a year-on-year basis, but that operating profit is ahead.

The builders merchants/DIY group — which owns the Woodie’s and Atlantic Homecare home improvement chains as part of its retail division and the Heiton Buckley and Chadwick’s merchanting businesses — said yesterday, as part of a first half trading update that turnover for the six months up to the end of June should come in at around €980 million, which would be marginally down on the €990m generated over the same period last year.

This, though, isn’t as bad as it could have been. According to the group’s last interim management statement — published in May — turnover for the first four months of the year was down by €22m on a year-on-year basis. In yesterday’s update, Grafton added that first half group operating profit was up on a year-on-year basis — thanks mainly to a good showing during the second quarter of the year — and management expects to be able to “build on the progress made in the first half, in the months ahead”.