Wolseley gets more than four fifths of its profits from its Ferguson operation in the United States, up from three fifths seven years ago, and with the British operation being scaled back and the Nordic business under review, that proportion can only keep growing. It is a large American tail wagging a smaller, UK-quoted dog, then, even if a third or more of the shares are held by US investors.
This is not a bad place to be. All parts of the business slowed in the fourth quarter, but the US delivered 3.1 per cent revenue growth even as the UK and the Nordics fell by more than 2 per cent. Since the July end of the financial year, the US has accelerated, with a