21st Mar 2005 07:03
Wolseley PLC21 March 2005 NEWS RELEASE Wolseley plc Creation of North American Structure and Change in Board Responsibilities Wolseley plc, the world's largest specialist trade distributor of plumbing andheating products and a leading supplier of building materials to professionalcontractors, is pleased to announce the creation of a new North Americanstructure and a change in Board responsibilities. With effect from 1 August 2005, Wolseley's North American structure will bringabout a closer relationship between the businesses, develp more sharedbranches, develop and use a common infrastructure and offer customers a uniqueproposition/service in North America. Chip Hornsby, currently Chief Executive of Ferguson, will take over the role ofChief Executive North America, while retaining his role as President and ChiefExecutive Officer of Ferguson Enterprises. To support Chip Hornsby, FergusonEnterprises are appointing John Stegeman as Chief Operating Officer. JohnStegeman has been with Ferguson Enterprises for 19 years and for the past 4years has been Senior Vice President of the Waterworks business. Fenton Hord will continue to be Chief Executive of Stock Building Supply andcontinue to serve on the Board of Wolseley plc. Paul Lachance will continue tobe Chief Executive of Wolseley Canada. Both positions will report to ChipHornsby in the new structure. Other senior appointments for Wolseley North America include: Dave O'Halloran,Chief Finance Officer; Tom Mitchell, Senior Vice President Acquisitions; FrankRoach, Senior Vice President Business Groups; Larry Stoddard, Senior VicePresident Business Development; John Wilcox, Senior Vice President Alignment andCoordination; Jim Feltman, Senior Vice President Strategic Planning; Al Byrd,Senior Vice President Supply Chain; Mike Brooks, Vice President InformationTechnology. The Group sees many opportunities to: leverage the resources and infrastructureavailable in North America to the benefit of each of the business units; achievesignificant growth objectives; and improve trading margins. Wolseley NorthAmerica's management team will focus on strategic planning, managing the assets(including the distribution centre network and supply chain) and growing thebusiness, both through acquisition and by organic means. Charlie Banks, Group Chief Executive of Wolseley said: "Wolseley has made enormous progress in developing the North American businessesover the past few years through acquisition and organic growth. We have a marketleading presence in our business areas which provides a unique foundation onwhich to build an integrated North American business. Chip has done a fantasticjob growing Ferguson and he now has the opportunity to combine the strengths andresources of our three businesses to drive our growth going forward." Press/Investor Enquiries: Wolseley plc 0118 929 8700Guy StainerHead of Investor Relations Brunswick 020 7404 5959Nina Coad Notes to Editors Wolseley plc is the world's largest specialist trade distributor of plumbing andheating products and a leading supplier of building materials to professionalcontractors in North America, the UK and Continental Europe. Group sales for theyear ended 31 July 2004 were approximately £10.1 billion and operating profit,before goodwill, was £619 million. Wolseley has around 51,500 employeesoperating in 13 countries namely: UK, USA, France, Canada, Ireland, Italy, TheNetherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg andDenmark. Wolseley is listed on the London and New York Stock Exchanges (LSE:WOS.L, NYSE: WOS) and is in the FTSE 100 index of listed companies. North American Plumbing and Heating Distribution In the year ended 31 July 2004 sales in this division were approximately £3.8billion. In the USA, Ferguson Enterprises is the number one wholesaledistributor of plumbing, heating, pipe, valves and fitting ("pvf"), waterworksand fire protection products to professional contractors and industry. It alsooperates a network of bathroom and kitchen showrooms. Ferguson's more than 800locations are in 49 states in the USA and Puerto Rico and it has approximately15,000 employees. Wolseley Canada, with over 200 locations, distributes plumbing, heating, pvf,ventilation and air-conditioning, engineered pipes, waterworks and fireprotection products. US Building Materials Distribution Sales in this division in the year ended 31 July 2004 were approximately £2.0billion. Stock Building Supply is the number one provider of building materialsand value added products to the house builder and professional contractor in theUSA. It has more than 200 locations across 26 US states and has approximately10,000 employees. European Distribution Division In the year ended 31 July 2004 sales in the European Distribution Division wereapproximately £4.2 billion. In the UK, Wolseley UK is the leading plumbing andheating distributor and a leading heavyside building materials distributor withmore than 1,500 locations and around 12,000 employees. In Continental Europe, Wolseley France has around 9,000 employees in over 700locations. Brossette is a leading supplier of plumbing and heating equipment,underground drainage products, pipes, valves and fittings to the professionalcontractor and public authority market. PBM, is the number two supplier inFrance of heavyside building materials and is the leading importer anddistributor of timber. Other European companies include Tobler in Switzerland, Manzardo in Italy, OAGin Austria, Heatmerchants and Brooks in Ireland, CFM in Luxembourg, Cesaro inCzech Republic, Mart in Hungary, Wasco in The Netherlands and Electro-oil inDenmark. - Ends - This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Ferguson