Heating and plumbing equipment supplier Wolseley reported an in-line 15.6 per cent rise in annual profit and said market conditions in its key US market should stay favourable.
Wolseley also said today that Chip Hornsby, chief executive of the firm's North American business, would succeed Charlie Banks as group chief executive from August 1st, 2006.
Pretax profit before goodwill for the year to July 31st rose to £691.2 million ($1.2 billion) from £598 million a year ago.
Sales rose to £11.26 billion amid strong performances from its North American plumbing and heating and building materials units, which account for 59 per cent of revenue.
The outlook remained favourable for the United States, where demand for products ranging from timber and bricks to drainage pipes has been underpinned by a strong housing market.
Although the number of houses built in the United States might fall following interest rate rises, the market was expected to remain strong overall, Wolseley said.
It said that in the United Kingdom, the repairs, maintenance and improvement market was seen showing modest growth, with positive trends in government spending and in France growth in the RMI market was likely to remain modest.
Wolseley shares have quadrupled in value over five years and have beaten the UK building materials sector by about 3 per cent so far this year. They closed at £11.74 on Friday, valuing the business at about £7 billion.