Woodies-owner Grafton Group acquires Spanish firm in a deal worth €132m
Revenue at Woodies was up 5.8% during the most recent quarter, 'helped by strong promotional activity', growth in the number of transactions, and more favourable weather conditions. File picture: Eddie O'Hare
Founded in 1974, and headquartered in Barcelona, Salvador Escoda distributes air conditioning, ventilation, heating, water and renewable products serving professional installers across the residential, commercial and industrial sectors.
According to Grafton Group, the total consideration payable is a maximum of €132m on a cash and debt-free basis — with €128m payable at completion and a further €4m payable subject to financial performance conditions.
Last year, Salvador Escoda reported revenue of €231.8m and an adjusted operating profit of €16.5m.
In addition to this announcement, Grafton Group also published a trading update which showed it generated revenue of £1.82bn (€2.18bn) during the first 10 months of the year — down from £1.9bn during the same period last year. The company said:
In Ireland, the company said Chadwicks continued to deliver a positive trading performance over the last four months with overall average daily like-for-like revenue up 1.4%.
“Materials price deflation continued to moderate and is estimated at circa 2.2% in the period compared to circa 4.9% in the first half, as timber and steel pricing continued to stabilise.
Revenue at Woodies was up 5.8% which was “helped by strong promotional activity” as well as a growth in number of transactions and more favourable weather conditions in comparison with the first half of the year.
“The outlook for growth in construction remains positive in Ireland, supported by strong government investment to increase housing supply,” the company said.
Grafton Group chief executive Eric Born said the company is “pleased with the performance of our Irish businesses where the outlook for growth remains positive”.
"The Group remains well positioned to capitalise as markets turn and we retain a tight focus on costs and efficiencies,” he said.
In the UK, daily like-for-like revenue was down by 4.4% over the last four months repair, maintenance and improvement demand remains weak.
“Consumer confidence remains relatively weak and the usual seasonal pick up of activity in September did not materialise as expected,” the company said.
In Finland, revenue was down 2.4% during the same period while revenue generated in the Netherlands was down 0.3%.
