Bathroom and kitchen products supplier GWA Group has reported a 37.4 per cent fall in profit, due to the state of building activity.
The fixtures and fittings supplier has cut eight per cent of its employee numbers over the past year, and has not ruled out further cuts.
It posted a $39.7 million profit for the year to June 30, down from $63.4 million the previous year.
Managing director Peter Crowley said the business had still performed well considering the weak housing market and low consumer confidence.
The result offers further evidence that interest rate cuts have failed to alleviate poor conditions for the residential market.
Crowley noted building and renovation levels remained low despite the introduction of government stimulus packages and interest rate cuts.
The company predicted the benefit from an expected housing market recovery would not improve this financial year, due to the 6-month plus timeframe a residential building took from start to completion, as the group's building fixtures and fittings were usually sold as the building was nearing completion.
This latest period of reporting has also witnessed developer Stockland announce a 10 per cent fall in earnings and Hills Holdings announce a 45 per cent fall blamed on slow construction activity.
