Profit at Wolseley plunges 77 despite 7,700 job cuts

摘要

The credit crunch has pushed pre-tax profit down 77 at building materials group Wolseley. In its annual results, announced on Tuesday, the group said pre-tax profit had fallen from ￡634m to ￡145m in the year ending 31 July 2007. It said its British and Irish divisions had experienced tougher trading than the rest of Europe. Operating profit across the region fell 1.2 from ￡433m to ￡428m, although turnover was up by 13 from ￡7.6bn to ￡8.5bn. The company is heavily exposed to the US housebuilding market and its fortunes have been severely affected by the American downturn.