Wolseley revenue rockets to £14bn after record year

Building materials supplier Wolseley generated a 15.5 % rise in pre-tax profit to £789m in its final results, its tenth consecutive year of record results.

Group revenue jumped 25.8% to £14.1bn up from £11.6bn for the 12 months to 31 July 2006.

Revenues at the UK and Ireland arm rose 14.4% to £2.69m despite difficult trading conditions in the domestic market. Overall revenues at the European operation, including France, Italy and the Czech Republic, increased 11.1% to £5.15m. The North America division performed strongly with revenues up 36.1% £6.61m.

Wolseley also embarked on an aggressive buying spree investing £914m in 53 acquisitions.

Chip Hornsby, chief executive said: “Achieving a decade of continuous growth is a fantastic achievement by the Wolseley Group and reflects the benefits of our customer, product and geographic diversity."

"More importantly, the fragmented nature of the construction materials distribution market in Europe and North America gives us confidence that we can look forward to many more years of substantial growth.”

• Wolseley has revealed plans to construct a showcase for sustainable building products. Called Sustainable Building Center, it will display a wide variety of products including solar panels, insulation and doors sourced from sustainable forests. The £2.9m building will be constructed from a range of sustainable products and information on the performance of these will be on display. The Center is aimed at a range of construction professional including clients, consultants and housebuilders who will be able to visit the facility, which will be located at the company’s UK headquarters at Leamington Spa. Construction of the ECD Architects designed building starts in October with completion expected next summer.