Woodies and Chadwicks owner Grafton Group suffered a 5 per cent decline in its British revenue, a trading update published on Friday shows.
The Dublin-based, London-listed, group said average daily like-for-like revenue in Britain declined by 5 per cent in the period compared with the prior year, reflecting “a further weakening in construction markets”.
“Following a weather-impacted slow start to the year, subdued construction activity was affected by rising cost inflation and weaker consumer confidence linked to the conflict in the Middle East,” the group told investors.
“All businesses have responded to the challenging market environment by maintaining tight cost control and driving efficiency improvements.”
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The trading update, which covered the period January 1st to April 30th, said its island of Ireland businesses delivered average daily like-for-like revenue growth of 1.8 per cent in the period in comparison to last year driven by strong growth in Chadwicks.
“Chadwicks benefited from a pick-up in construction activity in recent months following persistently wet weather earlier in the year and some forward purchases ahead of price increases,” the company said.
“Woodie’s trading was slightly behind strong prior-year comparatives, when favourable weather in early spring 2025 pulled forward demand for plant and garden related products.”
It said the March acquisition of Cygnum, a made-to-order supplier of off-site timber frame products to developers and contractors in the Irish market, will “broaden the company’s exposure to the growing new-build market in Ireland”.
Overall, group revenue in the period increased by 3.2 per cent to £830.1 million (€951.3 million). Grafton said the growth included “the positive impact of two acquisitions in Ireland”, including HSS Hire Ireland, which was acquired in May 2025, and the one month of trading by Cygnum.
“Trading days were in line with the prior year across all businesses, except for the Netherlands and Spain, which each had one fewer,” the company said.
“Group average daily like-for-like revenue was in line with the prior year, despite ongoing headwinds in certain markets, which have been further impacted by greater geopolitical uncertainty.
“A robust performance in Iberia, alongside more modest sales growth in the island of Ireland and northern Europe, was fully offset by weaker trading in Britain.
“Trading in the seasonally less important early months of the year was also influenced by exceptionally wet weather in Ireland and the UK.”
On the crisis in the Middle East, Grafton said it has experienced “no material disruption to date”, but stressed it “continues to actively manage supply chain risks arising from [the] conflict”.
“Supplier price increases and higher fuel costs are being closely managed, while the group remains mindful that sustained cost inflation may place pressure on market demand and volumes,” it said.
