The Irish operations of British building and plumbing supplier Wolseley boosted its sales in the Republic and UK in the year ended July 31st.

Wolseley UK and Ireland, which includes Irish suppliers Brooks and Heat merchants, showed a 14 per cent increase in revenues to £2.7 billion (€4.02 billion).

The group said that the Irish businesses recorded double digit growth during the period.

Wolseley posted underlying year profits at the top end of forecasts yesterday, but its share price fell as it said it was selling new shares to help fund acquisitions.

The world's largest distributor of plumbing and heating products said it was placing 59.5 million shares, or just under 10 per cent of outstanding shares, to cut borrowings related to its DT Group transaction and other recent bolt-on acquisitions as well as help do more deals.

Wolseley is expected to raise up to £690 million from the offer, as dealers expect the placing to be priced at between £10.80 and £11.60 a share.

"The placing will enable the group to continue to pursue its growth strategy and its programme of bolt-on acquisitions," Wolseley said in a statement.

Morgan Stanley predicted that share issue would dilute 2007 earnings by 4 per cent.

Wolseley said it made a profit of £817 million before tax and amortisation for the year to end-July, up 19 per cent on the previous year.

This compared with market forecasts which ranged between £766 million and £817 million.

Revenue rose 23 per cent to £14.2 billion, exceeding forecasts, which ranged between £12.3 billion and £14 billion, and Wolseley raised its total dividend by 11.4 per cent to 29.40 pence a share.