PROFITS AT the multinational owner of DIY and builders' merchants businesses Brooks and Tubs Tiles are expected to fall 28 per cent in the 11 months to June 30th last.

Builders' merchant Wolseley said in a trading statement yesterday that trading profits for the 11-month period were down 28 per cent on last year, while revenues were up 1 per cent.

In the 12 months ended July 31st, 2007, Wolseley had revenues of £16.2 billion (€20.45 billion) and trading profits of £877 million.

Wolseley will announce preliminary results for the 12 months to July 31st in September.

The building and housing slumps on both sides of the Atlantic have hit the British-based group's bottom line to the point where it said yesterday that it will not be paying shareholders a final dividend for the year.

It added that this move would save it around £150 million. Yesterday, Davy stockbrokers' analysts, Flor O'Donoghue and Tim Cahill, described the decision as "painful but necessary".

Last month, Wolseley Ireland revealed that the construction slowdown had forced it to cut 150 jobs from its 1,200-strong workforce, and to close 13 branches.

British-based Wolseley has operations in 27 countries and employs 75,000 people.

Yesterday, the group said the cuts would result in a once-off charge of £9 million, and contribute to a fall of 17 per cent in its Irish and British trading profits.

Wolseley said revenues in Ireland and Britain were up 1 per cent.

"The results reflect tougher trading conditions in Ireland throughout the period, combined with an increasingly difficult UK housing market," the group's statement pointed out.Trading profits across Europe were down 6 per cent. In the US, revenues fell 8 per cent and profits were down 46 per cent. Wolseley warned that many markets in which it is operating are likely to deteriorate in the short term. The group added that it would take any action necessary to ensure that it remained in line with its borrowing agreements, without compromising its strategic objectives.

"The deterioration in some of our key markets continues and it is likely that conditions will get tougher still," chief executive Chip Hornsby warned. The statement prompted Mr O'Donoghue and Mr Cahill to revise down their price target for the group to £2.50, from a previous target of £4.50. They cut their earnings per share forecast to 35 pence from 40.5 pence. The analysts said the statement indicated that profits and earnings were broadly in line with expectations.