Building materials and DIY group Grafton has issued a trading update for 2011 in which it says turnover was up 2.5% to just over €2 billion.
The company says it expects operating profits to be in the upper end of the €52m to €55m range.
But the company warns that a decision by the Government in the Budget not to proceed with legislation to end upward only rent reviews means the company has to make a non-cash provision of around €19m. It says that is mainly because of a small number of leases in the Irish retailing business.
70% of Grafton's business is in the UK. It says like-for-like sales there were up 4.5% compared with 2010. But in Ireland, like-for-like sales were down 6.4%, with lower spending on higher value products.
Grafton says, however, that overall turnover in the last two months of the year was better than in 2010, helped by better weather.
