Questions for Grafton on late Brexit hit; Shares slump 10%
Shares in Grafton have slumped 10% after the Chadwicks merchants and Woodie’s DIY stores-owner warned that full-year profits will be hit by Brexit, after all.
In an update released a month early, Grafton said that sales growth towards the end of its September quarter had weakened in its UK merchanting operations in the UK, while in Ireland “consumer sentiment eased”.
And despite a favourable economy, merchanting demand in the Netherlands had been hit by a slowdown in construction projects following a court ruling.
The trading update came as a shock because although considered by commentators as something of the ultimate Brexit stock, Grafton shares had surged, by 10%, as recently as late August as it indicated it was shaping up well to any threat of the UK crashing out of the EU.
The trading update showed that Brexit fears had caught up with the company. Grafton generates over half of its revenues in sterling from Britain and the North, and over a third in euro in Ireland, where it also owns Heiton Buckley, the Panelling Centre, and the 35 Woodie’s outlets.
