Plumbing supplies firm Wolseley cuts 2,000 jobs . Guernsey staff await news....

Wolseley PLC, the world's largest distributor of plumbing products, said Monday it would shed 2,000 jobs and close 200 branches in Britain and Ireland to adjust to the economic downturn.
The company, which has already cut 5,000 jobs across Europe and North America, said there had been a "rapid deterioration in U.K. market activity," and that it expected the market to fall further.
In a trading update, Wolseley, which has around 74,000 employees in 27 countries, said its profit before tax, exceptional items and amortization was down around 45 percent in the three months ending Oct. 31 compared to the same period last year. It said the trading profit of its British operation, Wolseley UK, was down 65 percent.
It did not provide a net profit figure in either case.
The company said the new job losses, which represent about a seventh of Wolseley UK's work force, would help the company save 80 million ($120 million) pounds annually.
"We continue to believe Wolseley should have a rights issue to refinance the balance sheet," Collins Stewart analyst Imran Akram said in a statement. He rated the company's stock a "sell."
But the company's share price rebounded after an early fall and closed up 8 percent at 293 pence ($4.39) on the London Stock Exchange.
Wolseley said U.S. subsidiary Stock Building Supply Inc. was still suffering from the slowdown in the U.S. residential housing market. It said the Raleigh, North Carolina-based company, which is wrapping up a restructuring process which has seen it lose 3,400 jobs, had experienced a 20 percent drop in revenue and a similar decline in store volume. However it said another U.S. subsidiary, Newport News, Virginia-based Ferguson Enterprises, Inc., was gaining market share amid "increasing signs of competitor distress."
Wolseley's Nordic operations were also suffering from the market turmoil. The company said the trading profit of its DT Group was down 25 percent, adding that the company had already lost 170 jobs there and was currently working to drop 380 more. It said further cost-cutting measures would be announced "in the next few months."
Wolseley chief executive Chip Hornsby said the results had been expected, and that the company stood ready to scale back its operations further should the need arise.
"We continue to react swiftly to market conditions with aggressive but measured cost reduction," Hornsby said
Wolseley have a Division in Guernsey the staff are awaiting news...

it gets worse.