Grafton Group reported revenues of £1.34bn (€1.55bn) for the first half of the year as the owner of Chadwicks and Woodie’s reported stronger trading in Ireland.
Revenue increased by 6.7pc from £1.25bn during the same period last year, while adjusted operating profit rose 8.2pc to £98.5m from £91m.
However, on a statutory basis which counts every single cost and gain, including unusual or one-off events operating profit actually fell by 5.4pc to £82.9m, while profit before tax decreased by 6.9pc to £77.7m.
Grafton is a distributor of construction products and operates businesses across Ireland, the UK, Northern Europe and Iberia.
In Ireland, it owns builders merchant Chadwicks and DIY and home improvement retailer Woodie’s.
The group said its performance during the first half was supported by strong trading in Ireland and in Iberia.
Average daily like-for-like revenue in Ireland increased by 3.4pc during the first half.
This compared with growth of 6.6pc in Iberia and 0.8pc in Northern Europe, while revenue in the UK fell by 5.1pc.
Trading in Ireland has continued to grow since the end of June, with average daily like-for-like revenue going up 4.9pc between July 1 and August 23.
Across the group, like-for-like revenue was 1.5pc higher during the same period.
In the results Grafton said all of its businesses on the island of Ireland delivered positive growth during the period.
Grafton finished the first half of the year with net cash of £78.3m before lease liabilities but down from £245.8m a year earlier following recent acquisitions.
The company also announced an interim dividend of 11 pence per share, an increase of 2.3pc from 10.75 pence last year.
Grafton maintained its full-year guidance and expects adjusted operating profit of between £190m and £200m for 2026.
The company said trading conditions in the Republic of Ireland and Iberia remain favourable, while conditions in the UK are expected to remain challenging.
It said the timing of a sustained recovery in Finland and the Netherlands also remains uncertain.
“Our outlook for the second half is not dissimilar to H1, with Iberia and Island of Ireland strong, Northern Europe mixed and continuing weakness in Great Britain,” Eric Born, the CEO of Grafton Group.
“Our medium-term outlook remains very positive supported by structural housing deficits in each of our markets. We remain well positioned to achieve our medium-term growth and strategic ambitions out to 2030 as set out in our recent Capital Markets Event,” he said.