Grafton delivers 'good' H1 trading performance, revenues up almost 14% YOY

Building materials distributor Grafton said on Tuesday that it had delivered a "good trading performance" in the first half of the year and stated it was now in a "very strong" financial position.

Grafton stated total revenues were up 13.9% in constant currency, while average daily like-for-like revenue growth of 3.4% was complemented by "a significant contribution" from acquisitions in Finland, the UK, Ireland, and the Netherlands.

Group revenue increased 12.1% to £1.15bn in the half-year, excluding its traditional UK merchanting business that was divested at the end of 2021.

The FTSE 250-listed firm also highlighted that there was some unwinding of higher-margin revenue from retail customers in the distribution businesses in the UK and Ireland in the first half that was driven by "exceptional demand" for home and outdoor space improvements.

Revenue normalised in its Irish retail business as "exceptional gains" during Covid-19 lockdowns reversed, as anticipated, while its UK manufacturing business "performed strongly".

Chief executive Gavin Slark said: "The group's overall trading performance was good against a very strong comparator in the first half of last year and our operating profit expectations for the full year are unchanged. Notwithstanding current macro-economic risks, our portfolio of resilient high performing businesses has the flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances and is well positioned to outperform."

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com