Difficult start

In the first four months of the current year the Grafton Group recorded turnover of € 617 mio, which is € 22 mio or 3.4 per cent down on the comparable period last year. Sales in January alone were € 25 mio below last year's result. In the months that followed the group achieved like-for-like growth in the United Kingdom, where it now achieves 70 per cent of its turnover through activities in the builders' merchant business. The results remained below last year's level in Ireland, where the company's activities include the Woodie's DIY and Atlantic Homecare DIY chains.