Wolseley, the building materials supplier, said today that it is poised to cut a further 1,300 jobs after revealing that the US sub-prime crisis helped wipe 30 per cent from its American profits.

This is in addition to the 1,700 jobs cut in the three months to October, bringing the total lost this year to 6,000.

The Reading-based group said that the cuts would fall on its American operations.

Chip Hornsby, the chief executive of Wolseley, said: "The Group continues to take swift and decisive action in the more challenging business conditions. Although sales trends and the outlook are uncertain, we remain committed to our strategy."

After the next wave of job losses, headcount at Stock, its US building supplies operation, will have fallen by a third from its peak last year. One in ten jobs will have been axed at Ferguson, its American plumbing and heating showroom chain.

The American market is vital for Wolseley, as it accounts for nearly half of its business. Both the new residential market and the repairs, maintenance and improvements sector were hit by falling consumer confidence.

Wolseley shares fell 21.5p or 3.26 per cent to 639p in early trading this morning. At the start of the year, before the sub-prime crisis and the liquidity crisis, they were trading at £14.

Profit before tax across the group in the three months to October 31 fell 15 per cent, or 10 per cent at constant exchange rates. In September the company revealed a 17.6 per cent slide in group pre-tax profits to £634 million, the first fall in the company's 16-year history.

The company said this morning: "The Board anticipates that business conditions in a number of the Group's markets will become more challenging over the next few months. In the USA, the housing market is likely to deteriorate further until the current high levels of unsold inventory have declined and the full effects of problems in the sub-prime market have been assimilated."

The group's performance in Europe, where recent acquisitions drove revenue up by 25 per cent, helped soften the blow from the US.

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