29th Sep 2015 06:15
LONDON (Alliance News) - Building materials company Wolseley PLC on Tuesday said its pretax profit was lower due to one-off charges, but its trading profit pushed higher and the group said it will return GBP300.0 million to shareholders via a share buyback.
The FTSE 100-listed company said its pretax profit for the year to the end of July was GBP508.0 million, compared to GBP676.0 million a year earlier, due to it booking GBP242.0 million in exceptional charges in the year, mostly related to a GBP234.0 million writedown on its business in the Nordic region.
But trading profit for the group was up to GBP857.0 million from GBP752.0 million a year earlier, driven by revenue rising to GBP13.30 million from GBP11.95 billion a year earlier. Trading profit for the group is defined as operating profit before exceptional items and the amortisation and impairment of acquired intangibles.
The rise in revenue was driven by a strong performance in Wolseley's US business, often the star performer and accounting for around three-quarters of its trading profit, while revenue growth in the UK was solid despite a tough market. Wolseley also it saw an improved performance in the Nordics, where it remains focused on restoring profitability. Its European arm saw more subdued trading in the year, though Wolseley said it is close to securing a sale of its French building-materials arm.
The group said it will pay a final dividend of 60.5 pence per share, up from 55.0 pence a year earlier, bringing its total dividend to 90.75 pence, up from 82.5 pence. This will be supplemented by a GBP300.0 million share buyback programme the company will conduct over the next 12 months.
Wolseley expects its like-for-like revenue growth momentum to continue in the first half of the current financial year, despite some sluggishness in US industrial markets, and overall expects to make more progress in the 2016 financial year.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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