Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
Irish merchanting group Grafton saw revenue rising by 9.1% for the ten months to 31 October 2017 to £2.3bn compared with the previous year, it announced in a trading update for the period trading update for the period from 1 July 2017 to 31 October 2017.
Merchanting accounts for 92% of Group Revenue and the UK division saw demand soften in October with volumes broadly flat measured against an improving trend in the fourth quarter of 2016. Pricing remains competitive going into the year-end.
The builders’warehouse business Selco is currently on track to open twelve new branches this year; one opened in Hemel Hempstead in September and there are a further two planned for Hayes and Solihull before the year-end increasing the branch network to 59.
Gavin Slark, chief executive o
fficer of Grafton Group plc said: “We are pleased with the performance of the Group during the period and our expectations for the full year remain unchanged. We anticipate that current trading conditions in the UK merchanting business are likely to continue over the remainder of the year while the Irish and Netherlands businesses should benefit from favourable trading conditions and strong market positions.”
