Tuesday preview: Wolseley reports first quarter earnings

Wolseley is expected to report on Tuesday an increase in first quarter earnings, supported by a weaker pound and expansion in the US.

At the full year results in September, the supplier of heating and plumbing products said like-for-like revenue growth in the new financial year has been 1.5% for the group and 4.5% in the US.

Chief executive John Martin said: “We will remain vigilant in controlling our costs to protect profitability while investing in attractive opportunities for profitable growth. We are confident that Wolseley will make further progress in the year ahead.”

Numis expects first quarter revenue of £4.1bn, compared to £3.5bn the same period a year earlier. The company is forecast to report earnings before interest and tax of £300m, up from £250m the previous year.

“The first quarter will show strong growth on the back of foreign exchange translation, which will then progressively decline over the coming quarters,” said Numis analyst Howard Seymour.

“Key to this and the outlook for the group is the US, where anecdotal evidence points to a lower level of growth over calendar third quarter, and investors will be interested to see how this compares to Wolseley’s fourth quarter to end July of +5.0%, which was diluted by ongoing weakness in Industrial markets.”

Numis expects the US to remain an “attractive driver of growth” as the CEO has pointed to a more aggressive stance toward expansion of operations in the nation through acquisitions.

Restructuring of the UK division and an operational review of the Nordic business suggest that progress in both markets will be more important than underlying demand, Numis added.

The UK has been impacted by weakness in repair, maintainance and improvement markets (RM&I), where Wolseley generates the majority of its trading profit.

Wolseley plans to cut 800 jobs in the UK as it closes about 80 branches and one distribution centre. The restructuring will cost the company about £100m, funded by working capital and disposal proceeds.

The operational review of the Nordics comes on the back of laclustre demand in Finland and detoriorating market conditions in Denmark.

Numis expects like-for-like sales to fall 2.1% in the UK and drop 2.3% in Nordics in the first quarter.

“Overall, Wolseley US exposure remains its key attraction and the driver of share price outperformance,” said Seymour.

“We would expect this to continue relative to UK peers in the short term as RM&I outlook continues to falter, but believe the valuation fairly reflects this hence our ‘hold’ rating.”

Tuesday 06 December

INTERIMS
Consort Medical, Gateley (Holdings) , Imaginatik, Imagination Technologies Group, Iomart Group, OPG Power Ventures, Real Good Food , Vianet Group

QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Schlumberger Ltd.

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Balance of Trade (US) (13:30)
Factory Orders (GER) (07:00)
Factory Orders (US) (15:00)
Gross Domestic Product (EU) (10:00)

GMS
MBL Group

FINALS
OMG, On The Beach Group , RWS Holdings

SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Playtech

AGMS
DX (Group), Jubilee Platinum, Kalibrate Technologies, Mila Resources, Trading Emissions

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Fidelity Asian Values

Q1
Wolseley