AS Grafton gears up for its results announcement this week, Davy Stockbrokers is forecasting underlying pre-tax profit growth of over 32% for the company. The increase in earnings will be driven predominantly by the company's Irish operations. There were three major factors contributing to Grafton's Irish profits more than doubling in 2005. These were the impact of the Heiton acquisition, the synergies arising from the deal, a positive operating backdrop. With further Heiton synergies and the maturing of the SSIA scheme providing further impetus, Irish operations look strong. There is less certainty in relation to the UK's performance this year. It will be interesting to see whether Grafton, which is up 14% for year-to-date, can keep up the momentum over the coming months.