Grafton Group H1 Revenues Down; Says Confident In Medium-term Outlook

(RTTNews) - Grafton Group plc (GFTU.L), a building materials distributor and DIY retailer, reported Wednesday weak revenues in its first half amid challenging trading in the businesses.

In its trading update ahead of the release of first-half results on August 29, the company reported group revenue of 1.14 billion pounds, down 4.4 percent from the prior year's 1.19 billion pounds. Revenues were 3 percent lower in constant currency.

Average daily like-for-like revenue was down 4.5 percent on the prior year.

Eric Born, Chief Executive Officer of Grafton Group, said, "Medium-term structural industry dynamics remain positive, and as flagged at the time of our AGM update in May, we expect profitability to be slightly more weighted to the second half of the year.... With our strong market positions and the scope for operating leverage throughout the Group's businesses as the macro-economic outlook improves, we remain confident in the medium-term outlook for Grafton."