PLUMB Center chain Wolseley said it was confident of further progress after seeing first half sales and profits move sharply ahead.
The building and plumbing materials specialist said its UK division, which employs 12,000 people at 1,500 sites, had been the strongest of its divisions in Europe and helped drive an overall ten per cent sales improvement.
Trading profits for the group were also up by more than 25 per cent in the five months to December 31, although Wolseley said the figures would have been better without the impact of negative exchange rate movements.
On a constant currency basis, Wolseley said group sales rose 15 per cent and profits by 30 per cent in the five-month period.
However, it has already warned that higher pension and restructuring costs will impact on margins in the second half of its financial year.
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