Wolseley cuts forecast on weak U.S. industrial demand

(Adds CEO comments, shares)

LONDON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Heating and plumbing supplier Wolseley plc (LSE: WOS.L - news) lowered its outlook for revenue growth on Tuesday, saying it expected industrial markets in North America to remain challenging and little growth in a competitive British market.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in the British group, which have outperformed the FTSE 100 index by more than 30 percent in the last year, fell 10 percent to 3,773 pence, their biggest fall since May 2009.

Wolseley said it expected to generate like-for-like revenue growth of about 4 percent in the six months to through January 2016, down from a six-month forecast of 6 percent it gave in June.

Chief Executive Ian Meakins said the weak spot in an otherwise strong U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . market was its industrial business - including oil and gas, mining and power generation - which accounts for about 15 percent of revenue in the region. It declined in the fourth quarter and Meakins expects further falls in the coming months.

"(The downgrade) is predominantly driven by industrial," he said, adding that the sector was being hit by weak oil and gas prices and the strong dollar.

Wolseley posted an 11 percent rise in trading profit to 857 million pounds ($1.3 billion), broadly in line with market expectations, for the year to end-July and said it would buy back 300 million pounds worth of its shares. ($1 = 0.6588 pounds) (Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Kate Holton and Susan Fenton)