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January 2008

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Wolseley plc Reading, United Kingdom Report Facts Company name: Wolseley plc Fiscal year end: July 31, 2007 Report title: The name the world builds on Chairman: John W Whybrow Chief Executive Officer: Chip Hornsby Number of books: 1 Report length: 132 pages Auditors: PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Design agency: 35 London E-mail: investor@wolseley.com	Report Rating 3.5/5 (Rating scale below) Profile-Mission (Excerpts, as from the report) The world’s number one distributor of heating and plumbing products to the professional market and a leader supplier of building materials… Our strong brands (°) are represented through… 5,296 branches across 28 countries.(ifc, p 3. Italics are own company’s words) (°) Brands include: Wolseley, Pipe Center, Stark, Reseau Pro, Bathstore, Brossette, Parts Center… Key Figures Group revenue: £ 16.2 billion Trading profit: £ 877 million Trading margin: 5.4% Profit before tax: £ 634 million Earnings per share: £ 73.52 pence (basic) Dividend: £ 21.55 pence (recommended) Return on gross capital employed: 13.7% Gearing ratio: 71.5% (Source: figures sourced from the annual report) Some Competitors Saint-Gobain Building Travis Perkins 84 Lumber B&Q Kingfisher

Very good > Rock-solid and matter-of-fact Performance review introduced and signed off by the CFO: logically built, strongly backed with graphs putting numbers in perspective (often over five years) (see selected page). > One page to review Key Performance Indicators and year achievements. > Risk management is part and parcel of the performance analysis. Mitigation is addressed under the Resource management title next to each category of risk (see selected page). > Corporate governance up to UK’s best practice, with an emphasis placed on the audit committee’s work. > Classy Board portraits with fair background information for directors.

Good > All key brands displayed on pp 2-3 Why there? Well, why not? > Acquisitions fairly reported. > Worthy Remuneration report.

Buts > Financial highlights must be taken for granted until further check (year-on-year growth percentages only). > Can (the impact of) tremendous external growth be effectively measured? Not that easily… > Why focusing on the Return on gross capital employed and leaving out the key Return on equity? > The visual route could have been paved much deeper, longer and livelier than over six spreads. The inside doesn’t fully live up to the very ambitious front cover title.

Responsible? > A seven-page Corporate social responsibility report gives a good picture of steps taken on various issues. However, measures are not used for all them; the structure is not perfect; and neither progress is really measured nor targets are visibly set.

How does the company report in key areas? What are the main report pluses and minuses? The Report Scan gives an overview of strengths and weaknesses, and scores each item. Contact e.com@reportwatch.net

Selected Page (p 37 of Wolseley Annual Report 2007)	Rating Scale 5 World-Class 4.5 First-Rate 4 Excellent 3.5 Fine 3 Average 2.5 Uneven 2 Ordinary 1.5 Deficient 1 Unsatisfactory 0.5 Uncompetitive The rating is based on ReportWatch internal desk research and does not take into account the independent Rating Panel’s judgment.