Ferguson racks up profits hike

Plumbing supplier Ferguson has cheered a 15 per cent hike in annual profits as another strong performance in its US business offset “tough” UK trading.

The group, formerly known as Wolseley, reported trading profits of $1.5 billion (£1.2bn) for the year to 31 July, up 15.3 per cent or 14.7 per cent higher with currency movements stripped out. It said UK like-for-like revenues rose just 0.7 per cent.