Grafton fall on margin pressure

homecare

Shares in Grafton Group fell more than 5pc at one point yesterday as it warned that despite growing revenues in the UK in the first six months of the year, its margins remain under pressure.

The company, which owns the Woodies DIY and Atlantic Homecare chains, generated 75pc of its £2.08bn (€2.9bn) revenue last year in the UK.

It said that during the first six months of this year, its revenue rose by 6.6pc to £1.08bn (€1.5bn). In constant currency terms, the figure was 9.5pc higher.