Building materials and DIY group Grafton has said it expects earnings for 2007 to be in line with or a little below market expectations despite the slowdown in the Irish housing market. Current forecasts are for earnings per share of around 86 cent.
In a trading statement, Grafton said it expected turnover for 2007 to be up 10% to €4.2 billion.
But it said earnings would fall this year to around 73 to 76 cent per share. This fall had already been anticipated by analysts.
On 2007, Grafton said its builders merchanting business saw a 'small decline' in underlying sales in the second half of the year, but the Irish DIY business continued to grow. The group completed 14 acquisitions during the year for a total of €74m.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2008, Grafton said the UK economy was in a strong position to cope with an expected slowdown. In Ireland, it said residential construction would continue to weaken in the first half, but the non-residential building and DIY sectors were expected to be positive.
Shares in the company closed up 24 cent at €5.50 in Dublin this evening.
