The Irish division of the plumbing and heating distributer Wolseley said its pretax profit for the five-month period to the end of December 2007 may have dropped by a third.

The company have been deeply affected by the housing recession in the US.

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Shares in the company hit a five year low on the London Stock Exchange yesterday before ending at nearly 4% to 689.50p.

Full year operating profit dropped 25%.

However revenue for the UK and Irish businesses increased by 3% which was partly offset by tougher trading conditions in Ireland where housing starts were around 50% lower.

(GK/JM)