Friday preview: Grafton trading update due on quiet day

(Sharecast News) - Friday looked set to be a fairly quiet end to the week, with little in the way of corporate news scheduled for release other than a trading update from Grafton.

In March, the supplier of building products reported better-than-expected annual earnings despite a challenging UK market.

Full-year adjusted operating profit rose 7.1% to £190.2m and compared with a company-compiled consensus of analysts' forecasts of £181.8m. The group also announced a £25m share buyback.

Chief executive Eric Born said at the time: "Delivering profitability ahead of analysts' consensus, despite inflationary pressures and challenging conditions in some of our markets, reflects the successful execution of our strategy of scaling positions across multiple geographies combined with a strong operational focus."

Looking ahead, Grafton said it expected positive trading conditions to continue in the Republic of Ireland and Spain, but other geographical markets were expected to remain challenging this year.

There are no UK data points of note due but in the US, the NY Empire State manufacturing index for May is out at 1330 BST, while industrial production figures for April will be released at 1415 BST.

Frank Prenesti contributed to this article