Average daily revenue increased by 3.5pc, while trading profit rose by 3pc to £111m. The group’s Irish businesses, which include MacBlair in the north, contributed 42.5pc of group revenue, slightly down from 44.5pc in 2024.
Chadwicks, which distributes building materials, operates from 64 locations. Woodie’s, a DIY and garden retailer, has 35 stores, while MacBlair, also a distributor of building materials, has 23 branches.
“Woodie’s delivered another year of strong growth, supported by a particularly strong performance in plants and garden products. Growth was driven predominantly by increased transaction volumes, alongside incremental gains in average transaction values,” Grafton said.
“Continued investment in our digital offering, including the successful rollout of a new ERP system in 2025, drove a 30.2pc year on year increase in online sales, with online channels representing almost 5pc of total sales for the year.”
While there was only modest growth in the parts of the construction market served by Chadwicks, it delivered a positive sales performance, particularly in hardware, heating and plumbing.
Grafton, which has predominantly trade customers, says the smaller-scale developments and medium to large-sized housing schemes that offer a more attractive customer profile for Chadwicks are declining as a proportion of the Irish construction market.
Activity in the commercial sector recovered in 2025 after several years of decline, and government-supported investment in infrastructure is growing, the company noted. “However, the ramp up in housing supply remains slower than market demand, constrained by external factors including planning delays, challenges in securing utility connections, and ongoing labour shortages,” it said.
Reporting the group’s final results for the year ended 31 December, Grafton said adjusted operating profit was ahead of expectations, increasing by 7.1pc to £190.2m, mostly driven by the full-year contribution of Salvador Escoda in Spain, a company it bought in 2024.
Grafton said positive trading conditions are expected to continue both in Ireland and in Spain, but other markets will remain challenging. The recovery it expected in Britain and northern Europe has not materialised.
“We remain vigilant that retail consumer sentiment in the Republic has turned slightly more cautious, with ongoing cost of living concerns contributing to weaker confidence,” Grafton said.
Trading in the early part of 2026 was affected by the prolonged wet weather but Grafton says Ireland still remained ahead of where it was last year, which was in turn hampered by Storm Éowyn in January 2025.
Overheads in Ireland were higher than 2024 due to inflation, Grafton said, led by government mandated wage increases both north and south.
For the group, there was a 50 basis points improvement in gross margin, keeping it at 7.3pc. Adjusted earnings per share grew by 5.1pc to 75.4p.
Grafton said it has £274m net cash on its balance sheet, “providing significant firepower to capitalise on development opportunities”. Its net debt position, including leases, was £123.4m, equating to 0.39 times leverage.
The full-year dividend of 37.75p was up 2pc.
The company has introduced a new share buyback programme, hiring Goodbody Stockbrokers and Deutsche Bank to buy back up to £25m of ordinary shares. The buyback starts today, and will be finished by August 31.