Wolseley ditches historic name as it eyes America

Wolseley was in the spotlight as it announced plans to change its name to Ferguson – ending 130 years of history.

The plumbing and heating specialist dates back to 1887 when Frederick York Wolseley launched the Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Company.

The FTse 100 firm will continue to use the Wolseley name in the UK but the group will change its name to Ferguson, after its US division.

‘Ferguson now accounts for 84pc of group trading profit and we have decided to align the group’s name with our most significant brand in our largest market,’ said chief executive John Martin.

Wolseley said it will now exit the Nordic region and focus on the US. It will also change its reporting currency to US dollars – a move that may come as little surprise to investors given the dominance of its American business.

Wolseley said that while it had identified a plan to return its Nordic business to growth, there were few synergies with the rest of the business so it had started a process to exit the region, which accounts for just 3pc of profits.

Kevin Murphy will take the helm of the US arm, succeeding Frank Roach, to lead the developments from August 1. Peel Hunt said the decisions were ‘a clear indication to us that Wolseley is going to move its listing to the US market’, adding: ‘With the UK and European profits set to be only 8pc of group operating profits in 2018, this makes obvious sense.’

Wolseley said first-half revenue was up 6.7pc on last year at constant exchange rates, at £8.4bn.

Trading profit climbed 5pc to £515m. Shareholders will see their interim dividend hiked 10.2pc to 36.67p a share. Shares surged 5pc, or 247p, to 5130p, the highest riser on the FTse 100.

The blue-chip index rose 0.7pc, or 49.9 points, to 7343.4.

The aa revved up as the motor group announced it was back in the black. Pre-tax profit for the year to January 31 was £74m, up from a loss of £1m a year ago.

Revenue edged up 1.6pc to £940m in the year. The firm said results had been in line with expectation and its turnaround plan continued, with a focus on membership growth and technology.

Customer retention had increased and its app was being used in 22pc of breakdowns and had been downloaded by more than 1m members. Shares advanced 5.7pc, or 14.7p, to 270.5p. Hostelworld Group climbed as direct bookings continued to soar. Hostelworld brand bookings grew 18pc in the year to December 31 with some 49pc coming through mobile devices. The firm said its marketing spend had fallen from

45pc Adjustedto 41pc earningsof were revenue,up 7pc too. to £20.7m on a constant currency basis. Shares gained 6.3pc, or 13.5p, to 228.25p.

Peel Hunt kept its ‘ buy’ rating on one savings Bank even after it emerged its largest investor had sold 10pc of the firm’s shares.

Funds being managed and advised by JC Flowers offloaded a total of 24.3m shares in the challenger bank at 395p each.

JC Flowers remains the largest shareholder in the bank with a 43.8pc stake, or 106.4m shares.

The US-based private equity business had held a 97pc interest in the business before it listed in 2014. Peel Hunt increased its profit forecast for the firm and raised its target price to 485p. Shares tumbled 6.2pc, or 26.2p, to 395.7p. A Mother’s Day sales flurry saw

card Factory sell an incredible 208 cards every second on Saturday. But a slowdown in like-forlike growth to 0.4pc sent shares spiralling down. Shares were off 2pc, or 5.5p, to 268.5p.