Originally published at www.seclive.com
Wolseley plc (WOSYY.PK) announced its full-year earnings for the fiscal year 2013, reporting earnings that pleased investors. The UK-based company's full year earnings were £725 million British pounds sterling (GBP), or approximately $1.2B USD. This well-exceeded analyst expectations of £704M and handily beat the £665M earned a year ago. Wolseley employs 40,000 people and has taken steps to better focus its business to be more profitable by focusing efforts on the U.S. construction market and reducing its unprofitable French businesses. The U.S. construction market now represents more than half of the company's revenue and earnings. For the year, revenue declined slightly by 2% to £13.2B, while its U.S. sales increased 10%. CFO John Martin commented that the company is looking for acquisitions in areas where the company is doing well and can realize profitable synergies.
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