Grafton Group returns 4% rise in first-half turnover

Grafton Group has reported a 4% year-on-year rise in first-half turnover, to €1.05 billion; adding that detailed half-year figures will be “in line with expectations”.

The Dublin-headquartered building merchants group said that the increase — from €1.01bn for the same period in 2011 — was mainly driven by favourable exchange rates when translating sterling turnover into euro.

Nearly three quarters of Grafton’s total annual revenues are generated from its Britain-based operations.

In May, Grafton said group revenue was up by 5.3% year-on-year for the first four months of this year. Yesterday’s update, covering the six months to the end of June, showed a 1.4% increase in revenue from Grafton’s British merchanting business.

“The business delivered a good improvement in turnover in the first quarter,” the company said, but added that trading conditions in the second quarter of the year had been adversely affected by unseasonal weather, with record levels of rainfall seen in Britain between April and June.

Grafton’s Irish retailing arm — which comprises Woodie’s DIY and Atlantic Homecare — saw revenues decline by 12.5%, year-on-year. Again, adverse weather conditions, particularly in the second quarter of the year, were blamed for this performance; significantly reducing demand for gardening products, although continuing levels of weak consumer spending also played a part.

Grafton’s Irish merchanting business saw revenues fall by 9% in the first half, compared with the same period last year. This was mainly down to a further decline in consumer spending on housing repair, maintenance and improvement.

Overall, management summed up the six-month performance as being “satisfactory in demanding market conditions“, “primarily as a result of internal initiatives against the backdrop of cyclically low levels of activity in its markets”.