Wolseley sells off Irish arm to focus on Britain

Plumbing and central heating supplier Wolseley today agreed to sell its Irish unit for 26.5 million (£23.8 million) to concentrate on its core business in Britain.

The firm, which trades as Plumb Center and Build Center in the UK, offloaded loss-making Wolseley Ireland Holding Limited to private buyer WIBHM. Wolseley shares rose 5p to 1443p.

The unit operates as Heat Merchants, Brooks and Tubs & Tiles in Ireland, and has 67 branches and about 650 staff. It had losses of 34 million last year.

The disposal was expected after Wolseley said in September that it would restructure and focus on Britain, the US and Scandinavia.

Chief executive Ian Meakins said today: "I am confident that the transaction represents a good outcome for Wolseley shareholders. It will also enable us to bring an even greater degree of focus on driving performance improvement in our core UK business."