B & Q owner Kingfisher beats forecasts as profits rise 28% on renewed interest in home improvements

Published 03rd Dec 2009

Strong sales growth at B&Q has helped parent company Kingfisher to beat City forecasts today with a 28% jump in profits.

The group made a retail profit of £227m in the 13 weeks to October 31, beating analyst forecasts of £204m-£225m.

Kingfisher reported that it has seen "renewed consumer interest in the home and DIY" in Britain, where it also benefitted from better weather this summer than a year ago.

B&Q's like-for-like sales rose by 5.7% in the UK, pushing its retail profits here up by 45.2% to £43m:

Sales of DIY and decorative products remained resilient, up around 1%, supported by increasing consumer interest in DIY, and stock clearance activity. Bigger ticket project sales were up around 11% (e.g. kitchen and appliances up 27%), helped by improved merchandising and new ranges, as well as continued good sales growth from revamped large stores and competitor withdrawal. Sales of outdoor products were up 11%.

Overseas, B&Q also did well in Poland and Spain, while in China losses were lower (£7m vs £17m a year ago) following the decision to close 18 stores.

The picture wasn't quite as rosy in France, though, with a 2.4% drop in like-for-like sales.

Chief executive Ian Cheshire said Kingfisher had posted a strong set of results despite the recession, but warned that he anticipated "no early help from improved consumer demand."

In other City news this morning, pub chain Marston's has posted a 13.5% drop in profits for the last year, to £70.3m. That's slightly more than it was forecasting when it tapped shareholders for £165.6m in its July rights issue.

Chief executive Ralph Findlay said the last year had been very challenging for the pub trade, but suggested that conditions were getting better.

The improvement in trading we experienced over the second half-year has continued in recent weeks, and we have made an encouraging start to the new financial year. Although we are cautious about predicting recovery, we have good pubs and popular regional ales which are performing well.

Source: ' 'Guardian' '

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