LFL growth tapers off a touch at Wolseley

Plumbers' merchant Wolseley, no longer drowning in a sea of debt, felt confident enough to ramp up its interim dividend by a third on the back of strong profits growth, though like-for-like sales growth has tapered off a tad in the last couple of months.

Revenue in the six months to January 31st rose 3% to £6,841m from £6,629m a year earlier. Like-for-like (LFL) sales were up 5%.

Underlying profit before tax jumped 28% to £250m from £195m at the interim stage last year. Charles Stanley had forecast profit before tax of £255m.

Start your trial of MoneyWeek today

Get unparalleled financial insight, analysis and expert opinion you can profit from.

Start your trial

Sign up for MoneyWeek’s free twice-daily newsletter.

Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.

Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.

Sign up

The interim dividend pay-out, at 20p, is much more generous than the 18p Charles Stanley had been expecting.

Adjusted net debt at £529m was down £404m on the end of January 2011 level. The group said debt will be further reduced when it offloads its Brossette division in the near future.

"Like-for-like growth trends for the group since the end of the period have been slightly lower than the first half overall with the US a little better and Europe a little weaker," revealed Ian Meakins, Wolseley's Chief Executive.

jh