Grafton Group shares fell 2% after the builders’ merchants said it had sold its well-known plumbing supplies firm Plumbase in Britain for a net £60.7m (€68.3m), deal analysts said was consistent with it getting out of low-profit yielding and competitive businesses.

A planning row has broken out in Tralee over plans for a major extension of a retail park on the outskirts of the town.

Shares have soared over 10% in the Grafton Group, which is considered the ultimate Brexit bellwether stock because it owns building merchants in the UK, Ireland, and on the continent.

Shares in Irish building products provider Grafton Group fell 3.5% after it said it has begun to see a weakening in its core UK market.

The chief executive of Irish-based builders' suppliers group Grafton has said management will not be restricted to the countries in which the business already operates when looking for further acquisitions.

BUILDER and developer appetites for development sites, especially residential ones, are to be tested in several late, and significant, 2018 Cork city and suburban sales.

The boss of the Grafton Group has said the building merchants firm is “not constrained by geography” and is looking at further acquisitions in Europe.

Shares in building suppliers Grafton Group have risen over 1.25% after it said it had bought London specialist decorators’ merchant firm Leyland.

The boss of the Grafton Group has said he expects construction in both Ireland and the UK to grow, as the building supplies giant reported a 9% rise in revenue and a 16% rise in pre-tax profits in the six months until the end of June.

Dublin-based builders suppliers business Grafton Group has expressed caution about its core market of the UK despite seeing a strong start to the year.

Construction supplies group Grafton is to create another 170 jobs in its Irish merchanting business in the next two years as it expands its operations in response to an upturn in business.

Builders suppliers Grafton Group is planning to expand its presence in Europe.

Shares in Grafton Group jumped by over 8% yesterday as the Dublin-headquartered builders merchanting business said it exited 2016 on a high, with revenues for the year more than 13% ahead.

A partial sale of the State’s near-total ownership of AIB is still expected this year, with Goodbody Stockbrokers naming it as one of the 10 main events likely to affect the economy in 2017.

Grafton Group is expected to keep expanding its presence in the Netherlands after announcing a deal which will significantly boost its market share in the country.

Grafton Group chief Gavin Slark has said there is nothing in the business’ half-year financial results “suggesting we have medium-term issues”, adding that management sees the uncertainty around Brexit being a short-term threat.

Builders merchanting business, Grafton Group has expressed confidence in its Irish operations continuing to grow, amid concern over its core UK business in the aftermath of Britain’s decision to leave the EU.

The developer behind Dublin’s Convention Centre and the head of Chadwick’s hardware are among those who have made personal donations to politicians.

Shares in Dublin-headquartered builders merchanting business Grafton Group slipped yesterday as the UK-focused company warned that Brexit uncertainty is negatively affecting its trade at present.

A 158,000 sq ft retail park anchored by Woodies with six other tenants, and two undeveloped other sites, comes to market this week in a Tipperary town due 300 new tech job, guiding €2.6 million, which is well below build/replacement costs.

Michael Chadwick is to leave Grafton Group — the Dublin-based international builders merchanting business he led for nearly 30 years — at the end of this year.

Grafton Group has further expanded its presence in southern England with the purchase of Allsand Supplies, a single branch general builders merchanting business based in Larkfield in Kent.

Dublin-headquartered builders merchanting and DIY goods provider Grafton Group has continued its international expansion drive with its fifth acquisition in the last 12 months.

Irish-headquartered builders’ merchants and DIY firm Grafton Group have bought a market leading Dutch company in its biggest ever deal in Continental Europe.

The full effects of the Central Bank’s mortgage lending restrictions are yet to be felt but underlying demand for homes offers the potential of strong growth for builders’ merchants.

Irish headquartered building materials group and Woodies owner Grafton Group made a pre-tax profit of £101.2m (€142.5m) last year as the Irish and UK economies continued to improve.

Builders, merchanting, and DIY group Grafton increased revenues by almost 10% last year, helped by exposure to the recovering construction sectors in Ireland and the UK.

Builders’ merchants and DIY firm Grafton Group increased revenues by just over 10% to the end of October, according to its interim management statement released yesterday.

Deficits in the Defined Benefit (DB) schemes of the largest Irish private and public sector bodies more than doubled between January and August of this year as the pension levy and falling bond yields took their toll.

Grafton Group has extended its mainland European presence by acquiring Gedimat-Ginion, a single- branch general merchanting business in Belgium.

Grafton Group has extended its presence in the UK through the acquisition of a three-branch builders merchanting business in the south-east of England.

Grafton Group has announced that it has completed the acquisition of Direct Builders Merchants Ltd.