Kingfisher raises profit guidance
Kingfisher, the parent company of B&Q and Screwfix, has raised its full year profit outlook following a strong performance in the UK.
In the three months to 31 October, like-for-like sales at B&Q rose by 2.8% with sales of big ticket items climbing by 7.1%
Subscribe to TRBAt Screwfix, like-for-likes rose by 3.3% after core and big ticket sales increased by 4.1% and 3.7% respectively. However, sales of seasonal items fell by 7%.
Kingfisher said there was more subdued demand in France and Poland where like-for-likes declined by a respective 2.5% and 1.3%, although sales in Iberia rose by 9.8%.
The group has now upgraded its full year adjusted pre-tax profit guidance to between c.£540 million to c.£570 million.
Thierry Garnier, chief executive officer of Kingfisher, said: “We delivered another quarter of high quality, volume-led growth, driven by our group strategic initiatives in ecommerce and trade and by our performance in core and ‘big-ticket’ categories.
“B&Q, Screwfix and Iberia continue to strongly outperform their markets. Our performance to date and progress in our strategic initiatives give us the confidence to upgrade our full year profit guidance.
“As we look ahead, we are committed to driving shareholder returns through the consistent execution of our strategic priorities and by being disciplined on margin and costs.”
