Fletcher Building is reporting a 4 percent fall in full year net profit to $467 million, even as earnings before interest and tax (ebit) rose 10 percent to $768 million.

The company said there were no after tax unusuals in the current year to the end of June, compared with $85m in the previous year.

As a result the net profit after tax and minority interests excluding unusuals of $467m was up 17 percent from $399m in the previous year.

Chief executive officer Jonathan Ling said the record operating earnings, or ebit, were made despite increasingly difficult markets.

The performance of the company's New Zealand and Australian businesses and the European and Asian operations of Formica had been "very pleasing".

A delay in capturing operational improvements identified before Formica's acquisition was disappointing, but Fletcher was still confident it would achieve a significantly improved operating performance in Formica's United States operations, Mr Ling said.

Fletcher bought iconic laminates firm Formica last year for $US700 million (around $NZ1b).

Today Fletcher said Formica contributed to the full year result of the Laminates&Panels division for the first time, but the result was well below expectations.

A final dividend of 24.5 cents per share will be paid, taking the total dividend for the year increased to 48.5c from 45c.

Total operating revenues rose 20 percent to $7.09 billion, with $1.1 billion of the $1.2 billion increase contributed by Formica, Fletcher said.

Sales in the Distribution division were up slightly to $1.08b, but down in Infrastructure to $1.86b from $1.94b. In Steel sales were up to $1.28b from $1.16b, while Building Products were up to $739m from $697m.

The Laminates&Panels division was being reported for the first time as four regional businesses. They were Australasia which consisted of Laminex, and the European, Asian and North American regional businesses, which were the Formica operations acquired in July, last year.

Operating earnings before unusual items for the division were up 8 percent to $141m, reflecting the impact of the full year's contribution from Formica and a 5 percent reduction in earnings by Laminex, Fletcher said.

Australasian earnings for the division were down 5 percent to $125m, with Australian sales up 5 percent but New Zealand sales down 21 percent.

Earnings were constrained by pressure on margins due to rising input costs.

The Formica North American performance was well short of expectations, with US housing starts down 28 percent.

The higher than anticipated restructuring costs and continued operating costs from the consolidation of Formica's North American operations, and the severe downturn in US markets, had negated solid performances in Asia and Europe, resulting in operating earnings for the Formica business of $16m.

In the Steel division second half earnings were helped by the exit of unprofitable businesses, restructuring of others to tighten management focus, acquisitions in the Australian rollforming business and one-off gains on the sale of scrap, Fletcher said.

In the Infrastructure division operating earnings rose $37m to $308m, despite lower demand for most construction products in this country, a significant decline in the number of houses sold and ongoing market weakness in New South Wales.

Good results came from development opportunities for land previously used in the aggregates business.

Fletcher shares closed at $6.43 yesterday down from the year high of $12.99 last October.