Grafton builds revenues in first half
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Builders merchants Grafton (LON:GFTU) grew its revenues for the first half by 9% to £1.44 billion, driven by both organic growth and the acquisition of Leyland SDM. There was also strong organic growth in Irish and Dutch markets and group operating margins improved by 50 basis points to 6.4%.
Management raised the interim dividend by 14.3% to 6p and said that the group was well placed to meet full-year expectations. UK conditions look to remain relatively flat, but overseas trends are encouraging.
Chief Executive Gavin Slark commented that: “We are pleased to report a strong first half performance across the Group with all segments reporting double digit growth in profitability. Excellent organic growth in key markets has been complemented by the positive impact of self-help measures and development activity. The geographic diversity of our operations continues to be an important strength of the Group. We made further progress towards our medium term financial objectives and invested £120 million on the Leyland SDM acquisition and capital projects to support future growth in profitability.”
Shares in Grafton were up by 5.02% at 815.50p (as of 10:00 BST).
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