Wolesley also admitted it has taken a one-off restructuring hit of £20m since August 1 last year, in an attempt to reduce long-term costs. This will have a knock-on effect on full year profits, the it said.
Operations in Denmark have also "remained challenging", resulting in a writedown of "goodwill and intangible assets of £393m".
The decision to review operations in France is a surprise, as in May the group said it was committed to all of its European businesses.
"We are urging caution on Europe but we think things will get better. We are not planning to pull out of any of our businesses there," John Martin, Wolseley's chief financial officer, had said.
"Things change and we are confident that there will be improvements ahead. In France, the weather had a negative impact, there's not much that can be done about that."
The French business, which makes up 10pc of the group, employs 5,420 people.
Twelve months ago Wolseley sold French plumbing and heating distributions business Brosette to Saint-Gobain, leading to speculation among analysts that a larger sale could materialise.
Wolesley shares fell 4pc to £22.36 in early trading.
Morning business round-up: HSBC to apologise to US Senate - BBC News
What made the business news in Asia and Europe this morning? Here's our daily business round-up:
Continue reading the main storyA US Senate investigation has disclosed how lax controls at Europe's largest bank left it vulnerable to being used to launder dirty money from around the world.
The report into HSBC, released ahead of a Senate hearing on Tuesday, says huge sums of Mexican drug money almost certainly passed through the bank.
Suspicious funds from Syria, the Cayman Islands, Iran and Saudi Arabia also passed through the British bank.
HSBC has said it will apologise when it appears before the Senate.
Technology firm Yahoo has appointed leading Google executive Marissa Mayer as its next chief executive.
Ms Mayer, 37, will become the firm's third chief executive in the space of a year. She was "honoured and delighted" to lead the company.
In May, chief executive Scott Thompson stepped down after accusations that he put a fake computer degree on his CV.
In September 2011, chief executive Carol Bartz was fired after two-and-a-half years in the post.
Foreign direct investment into China fell in June as an economic slowdown dampened companies' appetite for expansion.
Inbound investment fell 6.9% from a year earlier to $12bn (£7.7bn), figures showed. This comes after a six-month slide and only a 0.1% gain in May.
The Chinese economy grew at its slowest pace in three years in the second quarter of this year.
Business headlines
The World Trade Organization has ruled that China discriminates against foreign credit-card and debit-card providers.
A panel of the trade body said China maintained a monopoly on yuan-denominated payment cards which breaks WTO rules.
Only one company, China UnionPay, is allowed to process domestic currency transactions. This limits foreign providers such as Visa and Mastercard.
Prices in the UK are rising at their slowest rate since the end of 2009, official figures have shown.
The annual inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Prices Index fell to 2.4% in June, from 2.8% in May, the Office for National Statistics said.
The rate of inflation, which indicates how fast prices are rising compared with a year earlier, is slowing due to lower food, fuel and clothing prices.
In our latest Business Daily podcast, we look at the questions being asked about other markets where traders have a say in fixing prices. Lesley Curwen hears about the incentives and conflicts of interest which might lead traders to manipulate the figures they submit.
Samsung Lays Out $310m For CSR’s Mobile Business, And Crucially, Its IP - TechCrunch
Samsung has acquired the mobile business of British chipmaker CSR for $310 million. CSR, a public company, has been hit by the falling fortunes of its customers such as Research in Motion and Nokia, with its share price dropping by as much as 50 percent in the past couple of years. There also appears to be a global patent play here for Samsung in its ongoing fight with rivals such as Apple. CSR could prove a useful arrow in Samsung’s quiver.
Samsung is also purchasing a 4.9 percent stake of the main CSR company itself for another $35 million, which secures its access to CSR’s IP and its ownership of 21 U.S. patents in mobile technology.
CSR – which specialises in Bluetooth, GPS, WiFi and other chips – will sell its 300-person mobile business in an all-cash deal. The operation will become part of Samsung’s component division, which also happens to supply electronics to the likes of Apple and others. CSR’s new focus will now be on its so-called “five high growth markets” of Voice & Music, Automotive Infotainment, Indoors Location, Imaging and Bluetooth.
CSR CEO Joep van Beurden said that “under Samsung’s ownership the handset operations will be in a better position to prosper in the global handset market.”
Last year CSR bought Zoran, a U.S. video chip specialist, for $484 million, though 1,000 jobs were subsequently cut and preceded heavy losses at CSR, leading to shareholder angst. Though that blow will now be softened for them by the Samsung deal, with around $285 million being issued as a dividend.
Labour launches scheme to recruit candidates from business - The Guardian
The Labour party is to launch a "special stream" to encourage more business figures to stand for the party at the next general election, Ed Miliband will announce on Tuesday.
The Labour leader will tell more than 500 business leaders at the party's annual business reception that non-party members are welcome to apply to join the business stream of the Future Candidates Programme. Successful candidates would have to join the party when they stand for parliament.
Chuka Umunna, the shadow business secretary who has drawn up the scheme, said: "Our party – all parties in fact – must reflect what Britain looks like and the jobs which people do. Not only do we want more people setting up businesses, leading businesses and working in businesses, we want more people from the world of business in our ranks – from our councillors to our MPs. There are some already: like our MPs in the shadow business team, all of whom have set up and run businesses or worked for business, but we need more.
"We know many people who go into business share our values: hard work, contributing to society, creating something from nothing, creating jobs, creating value. This is why we want to bolster the number of people from business in our ranks and from different walks of business life – from entrepreneurs to engineers, manufacturers to media marketers, architects to analysts, retailers to recruiters. This initiative follows the establishment last year by Labour of NG: Next Generation, the party's entrepreneurs network."
The Future Candidates Programme mentors and trains aspiring MPs. It was launched last year to provide a "more representative pool of talent" for local parties when they select candidates for parliamentary and local elections.
Stocks Add to Losses Amid Bernanke Speech - CNBC
Stocks extended their losses Tuesday, with most key S&P sectors in the red, after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke offered no new hints of further easing, but reiterated his pledge that the central bank is prepared to take further action as needed.
In prepared testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, Bernanke said economic uncertainty is increasing, mainly due to the European debt crisis and the looming “Fiscal Cliff” in the U.S.
“Risks to economic growth have increased,” he said, and “Europe’s financial markets and economy remain under significant stress.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped, dragged by JPMorgan [JPM Loading... () 
] and Home Depot [HD Loading... () ], adding to losses from the previous session.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were also lower. The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, gained above 17. (Read More: S&P 500 Nears ‘Ultimate’ Death Cross)
Most key S&P sectors turned lower, led by energy and techs, while telecoms struggled to hold small gains.
Stocks initially opened higher as investors hoped Bernanke would signal another round of bond purchases to push down long-term interest rates and encourage more borrowing and spending on the heels of several weak economic reports in recent weeks.
On the economic front, consumer prices were flat in June, in line with expectations, as the cost of gasoline dropped, according to the Labor Department. And excluding food and energy, core CPI gained 0.2 percent for the fourth-consecutive month.
Industrial production gained 0.4 percent in June, according to the Federal Reserve, while capacity utilization was 78.8 percent. Economists polled by Reuters expected an increase of 0.3 percent and a reading of 79.2 percent capacity utilization. Still, the data still signaled a slowdown in economic growth in the second quarter as manufacturing output rose at an annual rate of 1.4 percent, down from a 9.8 percent rate in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, homebuilder sentiment jumped in July to its highest level since March 2007, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market index. However, homebuilders including Lennar [LEN Loading... () ], D.R. Horton [DHI Loading... () ] and Beazer [BZH Loading... () ] remained under pressure.
Among earnings, Goldman Sachs [GS Loading... () ] blew past estimates, despite a substantial drop from last year. On Monday, Citigroup [C Loading... () ] posted earnings that topped expectations. At least two brokerages raised their price target on Citigroup.
Coca-Cola [KO Loading... () ] gained after the world's biggest beverage producer posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, thanks to increased sales volume.
But fellow Dow component Johnson & Johnson [JNJ Loading... () ] reported earnings in line with expectations, while revenue fell short of analysts' estimates. Shares of the drugmaker edged lower.
Mattel [MAT Loading... () ] jumped to lead the S&P 500 gainers after the toymaker beat earnings expectations.
Intel [INTC Loading... () ], Yahoo [YHOO Loading... () ] and CSX [CSX Loading... () ] are slated to post earnings after the closing bell. Yahoo's results come a day after after the Internet company appointed Google's [GOOG Loading... () ] Marissa Mayer as its new President and CEO.
BofA, AmEx, IBM, Qualcomm, Ebay and Yum Brands are among some notable companies scheduled to post earnings on Wednesday.
European shares edged up but gains were limited in anticipation of Bernanke’s testimony.
In Asia overnight, Japan's Nikkei share average rose 0.4 percent after the finance ministry, reacting to the yen hitting a one-month high against the dollar, warned it would intervene if necessary to curb excessive movements in the currency market.
—By CNBC’s JeeYeon Park (Follow JeeYeon on Twitter: @JeeYeonParkCNBC)
Coming Up This Week:
TUESDAY: Cleveland Fed Pres speaks, Google Ideas conf.; Earnings from Intel, Yahoo, CSX
WEDNESDAY: Weekly mortgage apps, housing starts, Ben Bernanke speaks, Fed's Beige Book; Earnings from BofA, Abbott Labs, Honeywell, PNC Bank, USBancorp., AmEx, IBM (tentative), Qualcomm, Ebay, Yum Brands
THURSDAY: Jobless claims, existing home sales, Philadelphia Fed survey, leading indicators; Earnings from Morgan Stanley, Novartis, Philip Morris, Travelers, Verizon, AutoNation, BB&T, Blackstone, Nokia, Southwest Airlines, Google, Microsoft, AMD, Capital One, Chipotle, ETrade, Sandisk
FRIDAY: Fender and Kayak trading debut; Earnings from GE, Schlumberger, Xerox
More From CNBC.com:
MONEY MARKETS-T-bill demand surges after ECB deposit rate cut - Reuters
* Zero deposit rate forces investors to seek yield elsewhere
* T-bills benefit, core yields to converge around Germany
* Benefit to Spain, Italy bill market seen strictly limited
LONDON, July 17 (Reuters) - Demand for euro zone treasury bills has surged since the ECB cut its deposit rate to zero last week as buyers who focus on short term debt look to secure what little yield remains by moving into longer-term and lower-rated investments.
Belgium, whose highest credit rating is AA, on Tuesday became the latest euro zone sovereign to sell short-term debt at a negative yield, issuing three-month bills at a yield of minus 0.16 percent.
Triple-A rated France, Germany and the Netherlands have all sold T-bills at negative yields in the past week, as has the euro zone's EFSF temporary rescue fund, which is backed by state guarantees.
Investor appetite for low-risk assets is already at an all-time high with dwindling confidence in the euro zone's ability to haul itself away from the brink of break-up and the global economy struggling to grow.
But analysts said last week's European Central Bank cut in the rate it pays on overnight deposits to zero had triggered a new spike in demand.
The knock-on effect has seen overnight rates fall, pushing some of the most secure banks to offer a negative yield on certificates of deposit, which are widely used by the most risk-averse asset managers such as central banks and money market funds.
"Banks are now charging for the privilege of placing money with them... which is pushing many investors to seek alternative areas in which to effectively park their money," said Richard McGuire, strategist at Rabobank in London.
The resultant boom in demand for yield was causing convergence in rates on treasury bills - debt with a maturity of less than two years - among the region's highest rated issuers.
Germany issued six-month bills last week at an average yield of minus 0.034 percent, while on July 16 France sold 23-week bills at a cost of minus 0.005 percent - a difference of around 3 bps. At similar sales a month earlier the gap between the two auction yields was 12.5 bps.
"To me, this is investors saying 'I'm actually getting capital destruction in the safest assets, so I'm going to move out along the credit curve and the term structure a little'," said Thushka Maharaj, a vice president in the Credit Suisse European interest rate strategy team
""We are still expecting convergence between French and Netherlands T-bills towards the German yield, in the front end the spread is about 20 basis points so there's still room there."
The search for higher yielding assets has also pushed down the cost of short-term borrowing for the likes of Spain and Italy - both on the frontline of the region's debt crisis.
Spain on Tuesday sold 12 and 18-month bills at around a percentage point lower cost than last month. However, analysts said the 3.92 percent and 5.07 percent yields were still too high to say markets believed the country's finances were on a sustainable path.
Strict rules governing the quality of investments that money market funds can invest in prevent many from straying into peripheral debt, limiting the capacity for further spillover from the ECB cut.
EXCLUSIVE: Show me the money! Chelsea target Cavani demands £150k-a-week deal - Daily Mail
By Sami Mokbel
|
Edinson Cavani will demand parity with Chelsea’s top earners when he reopens talks with the European champions this week.
The Uruguay striker’s representatives will tell the London club he wants a pay deal worth 150,000 a week, which would put him on a par with John Terry, Frank Lampard and Fernando Torres.
You're our guy: Edinson Cavani is in talks with Chelsea over a move to London
London calling: Cavani is part of Uruguay's Olympic team which take on GB
Cavani, who can leave Napoli for 35million, is one of the options being considered by Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo as he looks to fill the gaping hole left by Didier Drogba.
Once the capture of attacking midfielder Oscar is complete, the Blues will look to complete two more deals — expected to be a centre forward and a right back — before the transfer window closes.
Cavani, 25, who is also on the Juventus wanted list, has been watched by Chelsea for some time and scored against them in the Champions League last season.
Chelsea are also exploring moves for Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao and Real Madrid forward Gonzalo Higuain.
Incoming: Oscar's move to Stamford Bridge is almost complete, as Sportsmail revealed
US STOCKS-Vague Bernanke drags Wall St lower - Reuters
* Bernanke offers no specifics on further stimulus
* Goldman, Coke post strong earnings, but gains pared
* Indexes off: Dow 0.4 pct, S&P 0.5 pct, Nasdaq 0.7 pct
NEW YORK, July 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as a lack of clues on more economic stimulus from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke offset strong earnings from bellwethers including Goldman Sachs and Coca-Cola.
Bernanke left the door open to more actions to prop up the economy, but many investors were hoping for a specific time frame for more stimulus.
Stocks turned lower and the U.S. dollar strengthened against the euro, continuing a pattern of markets closely following monetary policy. U.S. corporations have pointed out in recent earnings reports that a strong greenback is hurting overseas revenues.
"For stimulus junkies, as we call them, they wanted more clear signs of (quantitative easing). They didn't get that and the market dropped," said Joe Saluzzi, partner at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey, speaking of the Fed's asset purchase program that has previously lifted equity and commodity prices.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 55.32 points, or 0.43 percent, to 12,671.89. The S&P 500 Index dropped 6.30 points, or 0.47 percent, to 1,347.34. The Nasdaq Composite fell 20.52 points, or 0.71 percent, to 2,876.42.
Including Tuesday the S&P has posted losses in eight of the last nine sessions, falling about 1.7 percent. The market's relative resilience has been credited in part to historic low bond yields and to a vigilant Fed.
The Nasdaq was weighed by declines in chipmakers, as the PHLX semiconductor index hit its lowest level since mid December. Intel is expected to report results after the bell.
Goldman Sachs shares rose above $100 after reporting earnings that beat expectations, but was up less than 0.1 percent at $97.70 after Bernanke's remarks. Coca-Cola Co, which also topped consensus forecasts, gave up a near 3 percent advance to rise 1.2 percent to $77.36.
Shares of State Street Corp fell 5.3 percent to $41.81 after the company said second-quarter net income fell.
Johnson & Johnson reported adjusted profit that beat expectations by a penny, but posted lower-than-expected sales and cut its full-year profit forecast, sending shares down 0.8 percent to $67.92.
Bullish excitement around Yahoo Inc's new CEO Marissa Mayer, a now-former top executive at Google, faded and a more than 2 percent gain evaporated. Yahoo shares last traded down 0.9 percent at $15.51. Yahoo has cycled through three CEOs in a year.
you are all forgetting this is a paper,he probably isn't demanding anything,I really think Chelsea need another striker as lulaku is still to young to play full term and the best thing for us and him is for him to go out on loan for a season,I think Chelsea should pay the extra and go for falcao,Torres and falcao as strike partners would be great I think
- cfc1976, London, 17/7/2012 15:54
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