Wolseley’s stock continues to get hammered

The news keeps getting worse for Wolseley, the British plumbing, heating and building supplies company, as the housing downturn caused its stock to plummet last week to an eight-year low. Analysts say the housing crunch, combined with Wolseley’s acquisition splurge in the past several years, may lead the company to sell its U.S.-based Stock Building Supply operation to meet to meet its banking covenants.

What’s worse for Wolseley, which is also the parent of Ferguson Enterprises in the United States, is that the building market in Britain is deteriorating faster than it has in the states.

In the past 18 months, Wolseley has cut 10,000 jobs, or 12 percent of its global workforce—with many of those cuts coming in the United States.

More job cuts are expected when the company’s full-year results are announced in September.

According to the Financial Times, the United Kingdom could see as may as 15 percent of its 14,000 Wolseley employees lose their jobs. So far, the newspaper reported, just five percent of the job cuts have occurred in the UK, with reductions of 700 over the last two years.

“Generally, the summer months are good for us, but we have to prepare the business for the off-season, and by September we will have a better idea of what the headcount reduction should be,” said Chip Hornsby, group executive for Wolseley.

Hornsby made the comments as the company released its pre-closing trading update last week.

Wolseley also said it will not pay its final dividend.