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Grafton Group PLC on Thursday said it is ‘actively’ seeking bolt-on acquisitions as it reported double-digit sales and profit growth in the first half of 2025. The Dublin-based building materials distributor and do-it-yourself retailer said pretax profit rose 17% to £83.5 million in the half year to June 30 from £71.7 million the year prior. Revenue grew 10% to £1.25 billion from £1.14 billion, with basic earnings per share up 23% to 35.1 pence from 28.4p. Adjusted operating profit climbed 9.5% to £91.0 million from £83.1 million, which Grafton said was in line with expectations, and driven in large part by the contribution of Salvador Escoda. Grafton completed the £132 million purchase of Salvador Escoda, a distributor of air conditioning, ventilation, heating, water and renewable products, last October. The firm the integration of Salvador Escoda is progressing well, noting non-UK markets now account for around 64% of group turnover. ‘Given our ambition to be a leading player in the European building materials distribution market and our exposure to the growing and fragmented Iberian market, we would expect that diversification trend to continue,’ the firm said. ‘We are actively pursuing bolt-on and platform acquisitions in our chosen European markets,’ the firm added. Grafton said a focus on margin management led to gross margin improvement of 60 basis points which offset the impact of increased overheads connected to inflationary pressure and higher labour costs. Net cash fell to £245.8 million at June 30 from £361.1 million a year ago. Despite the drop in cash balances, Grafton said the balance sheet is ‘strong’ providing ‘significant firepower to capitalise on organic and inorganic development opportunities.’ Grafton increased the interim dividend by 2.4% to 10.75 pence from 10.5p and announced a new £25 million share buyback. Goodbody Stockbrokers UC, will act as agent, and Numis Securities Ltd as principal, for the buyback which is expected to end no later than January 31 2026. Chief Executive Eric Born said whilst ‘we saw an easing of trading momentum towards the end of May and into June, the start of the second half has seen a return to growth of group average daily like-for like revenue.’ Although the outlook for the full year varies by market, Born said Grafton expects full year adjusted operating profit to be broadly in line with analysts’ expectations of between £184.0 million to £187.3 million. At the top-end of the range this would be growth of 5.5% from £177.5 million in 2024. Shares in Grafton Group were 2.0% higher at 879.80p each in London on Thursday morning. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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