Building materials group Grafton has said that group revenues to the end of October rose marginally to €1.7 billion from €1.69 billion the same time last year as the improved trends seen earlier in the year continued.
In an interim management statement this morning, the company said its trading performance had made steady progress during the year as it saw 'reasonably consistent' like for like sales since February.
It said that while Irish merchanting sales continued to fall, the rate of decline also continued to ease as the year progressed. UK merchanting sales for the year to the end of October are up 6% compared to 5% up to the end of June.
Grafton's Irish retailing businesses recorded a fall in sales of 7% in the year to October, similar to the fall in the first half of the year. Group manufacturing sales were down 3% in the year to October, this compares to a fall of 7% in the first half of 2010.
The company said its profitability for the third quarter was well ahead of last year and this trend has continued into the last three months of the year. There was also a significant improvement in the profits of its UK merchanting division while the Irish business saw a return to breakeven.
'Grafton's financial position remains strong with good liquidity and positive cash flows from operations,' today's trading statement said.
'A good base has been established from which renewed growth in earnings can be generated over the coming years as market conditions normalise,' he added.
