Wolseley expects higher sales in the U.S. |
|
|
Published
:
Wed, 28 Sep 2005 09:05
|
LONDON: Plumbing and heating equipment supplier Wolseley expects to yield higher sales in the U.S. after Hurricane Katrina. But there cannot be any building boom there.
The company recorded a 16 per cent growth in profits for the current fiscal. It posted pretax profit of 691.2 million pounds, compared with 598 million pounds a year ago, while its sales went up by 11.2 per cent to 11.26 billion pounds, mostly on account of higher sales of heating and plumbing equipment in North America, which accounts for the company's 59 per cent revenue.
Operating profit from North America for plumbing and heating equipment went up by 19 per cent to 296.5 million pounds, while that for building materials went up by 24.4 per cent to 130.9 million pounds.
The company described the outlook for North America as favourable until at least the end of the year. There is demand for products like timber and bricks and drainage pipes. While it has only limited presence in the states affected by the hurricane, the company's chief executive Charlie Banks said it expected to win a good number of major projects because of strong relationships with building firms.
The company's sales in the U.K. improved by 11.7 per cent to 2.35 billion pounds.
It added 57 new locations in the last one year, including 18 branches following the buy-out of Brooks acquisition, taking its U.K. total to 1570.
Meanwhile, the company said Banks will retire next August and Chip Hornsby, head of the company's U.S. operations, will take over.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Print this Story
