Builders merchants and DIY group Grafton said group turnover for the first four months of 2012 rose by 5.3 per cent to €676 million.

The group, which operates the Woodies, Chadwick and Atlantic Homeware brands in Ireland, announced turnover of €642 million for the same period last year.

Operating profit for the four months was ahead of the prior year despite subdued volumes in the UK and a difficult macro-economic environment in Ireland.

In an interim statement released ahead of its agm in Dublin today, the group said turnover in its Irish merchanting business was down by 9 per cent due to a decline in spending on DIY.

The impact on profit of lower turner was offset by cost reductions, the company said.

Turnover in Grafton's Irish retailing business was down 16 per cent with trading during April particularly affected by adverse weather conditions which led to a delay in spending on gardening goods.

Average daily like-for-like turnover in the firm's UK merchanting business, which accounted for 74 per cent of group turnover, rose by 1.7 per cent during the first four months of 2012. However, as with the Irish market, adverse weather conditions affected turnover for April.

The group said overall market conditions in the UK remained stable despite more broadly based economic weakness. It said its Selco, Plumbase and specialists merchanting businesses performed strongly.

Grafton said it expects its performance for the full year to be in line with market expectations.

The group will report interim results for the six months ending June 30th 2012 on August 29th.