There was little to fault in the third-quarter trading update from Ferguson. The world’s largest distributor of plumbing and heating products delivered group organic revenue growth of a shade over $5 billion, up 7.1 per cent in the three months to the end of April 30, leaving a trading profit of $356 million, 17.1 per cent higher.
It was the fifth consecutive quarter that Ferguson has delivered organic growth above 7 per cent, a measure that strips out currency fluctuations and mergers and acquisitions. The figures were ahead of consensus forecasts, too, prompting analysts to raise expectations and the shares to rise 1.8 per cent to £60.00, close to last week’s record high.
Ferguson was called Wolseley, its trading name in Britain, but changed its