Plumbing and heating materials distributor, Wolseley, reported a 77% decrease in pre-tax profits in the year to the end of July.

Wolseley has already cut 6,000 staff in the past year and blamed further deterioration of the housing market in the US and the UK.

Chip Hornsby, Wolseley plc Group Chief Executive said: "We have continued to take action to reduce costs and drive working capital improvements in response to challenging market conditions. While these conditions have impacted many of our businesses significantly during the year, our employees have done a good job at responding to the tough markets and we are seeing the benefits of our actions with market outperformance in many areas. Financial discipline in terms of cost reduction and cash flow enhancement remains our primary focus to ensure the Group remains compliant with our banking covenants and is well positioned for any market recovery."

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Its full year profit dropped to £74 million from £474 million, and its sales gained 2% to £16.5 million.

(CD/JM)