Wolseley shares rise on Fannie and Freddie bail-out

Shares in builders merchant group Wolseley rose 12% to 502p this morning thanks to the US Government’s intervention in the US economy.

The £100bn bail-out of US mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae was good news for Wolseley, whose considerable exposure to the decimated US housing and building market played havoc with their share price earlier this year.

Wolseley have net borrowings of over £2bn and have reduced their headcount by over 6,000 people since August last year and managed cut its net debt by around 10%.

However, the last trading statement said the group still expected the decline in the UK market to get worse before it got better.