For heating and plumbing supplier Wolseley (WOS), recent years have been marked by steady improvement in its US markets, which generate just over half of group revenue, modest improvements in the UK (15 per cent of group revenue), and a much tougher environment in continental Europe. During the six months to end-January conditions were much the same, although it's worth noting that a 14 per cent jump in US trading profit, to £255m, was more than enough to outweigh more pedestrian progress elsewhere.
A measure of the group's cash generative qualities can be seen from the debt level. While that rose from £384m to £405m, this was after paying out £417m in dividends - including a special payment of £298m in December. Moreover, and despite a 5.6 per increase in expenses, the operating margin grew from 5.4 per cent to 5.6 per cent.
Outside the US, meanwhile, UK revenue edged up 3.2 per cent, helped by a resilient repair and maintenance market and an increase in new house building, while combined trading profits from Canada and continental Europe slipped from £84m to £79m.
Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch are forecasting adjusted pre-tax profit of £711m for the full year, giving EPS of 189p (2013: 702m/192p).
| WOLSELEY (WOS) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 3,406p | MARKET VALUE: | £9.05bn | |
| TOUCH: | 3,405-3,407p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 3,537p | LOW: 2,931p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.1% | PE RATIO: | 24 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 1,033p* | NET DEBT: | 34% | |
| Half-year to 31 Jan | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 6.28 | 193 | 47.3 | 22 |
| 2014 | 6.52 | 316 | 85.4 | 27.5 |
| % change | +4 | +64 | +81 | +25 |
Ex-div:02 Apr Payment:01 May *Includes intangible assets of £1.15bn or 432p a share | ||||
