Kingfisher has posted a decline in both sales and profits, blaming a “weak consumer backdrop” in the UK and disruption caused by new range implementation at B&Q, and “transformation-related issues” at its Castorama chain in France.
Over the six months to 31 July, the DIY group’s total sales fell 1.4% to £6bn with like-for-like sales slipping 1.8%. Underlying pre-tax profit fell by 6.4% to £353.3m, whilst statutory profit was down 12.5%.
In UK & Ireland division, retail profit dropped by 1.7% to £277m on total sales up 0.7% to £2.66bn. However, like-for-like sales in its main B&Q chain fell by 3.2% as trading was impacted by discontinuation of the retailer’s installation services and ongoing work to introduce new surfaces and décor ranges. In contrast, like-for-like sales at Screwfix climbed by 5.1%.
Meanwhile, profits in France, where Kingfisher operates the Castorama and Brico Dépôt chains, fell 12.7% to £114m with like-for-like sales down 4.4%.
Kingfisher stated that the outlook across its main markets for the rest of the year remained mixed, with the UK facing “ongoing uncertainty”.
The group announced in June that Thierry Garnier, the head of Carrefour’s Asia unit, would be joining the business as its new Chief Executive, replacing Veronique Laury whose turnaround plan failed to deliver an expected improvement in profit.
In today’s statement, Kingfisher Chairman Andy Cosslett said: “The board and I would like to thank Véronique for her vision and her determination in laying the foundations for our future growth.
“In Thierry Garnier, who joins Kingfisher next week, we have found the right individual with the right skills and experience to build on the platform that we are establishing. In the near term our focus will be on improving execution and delivering on our key priorities for the year.”
