Kingfisher PLC– the owner of B&Q and Screwfix, has reported a 4.2% rise in like-for-like sales in the UK market for the second quarter of the 2018 financial year.
Reflecting “improved performances at B&Q and Screwfix within the context of a continuing weak UK consumer backdrop”, the financials saw Kingfisher earn some £11.23bn for 2017 in group wide revenues and in doing so, cementing Kingfisher as the largest home improvement retailer in Europe, and the third largest in the world (only behind The Home Depot and Lowe's).
The group said B&Q UK & Ireland sales rose by 3.6% in the period, due mainly to strong performance for weather-related categories.
Screwfix sales however rose by even more at some 5.5% on a like-for-like basis, with 12 new outlets opening during the period.
Overall, the group reported a like-for-like sales rise of 1.6%.
“We started our transformation two and a half years ago and are on track to deliver our strategic milestones for the third year in a row,” said Kingfisher CEO Véronique Laury.
“In Q2, I’m pleased that we grew our sales after the exceptionally harsh weather conditions in Q1. In B&Q, Screwfix and Brico Dépôt France we delivered good sales growth. We look forward to providing a more detailed update at our H1 results in September.”
However, the financials have done little to calm the nerves of investors who are citing that the UK home improvement sector remains very challenging and with Brexit uncertainty the dominance of Kingfisher is yet to benefit from the capacity withdrawal from Homebase and possibly Wickes. As such, the share price in Kingfisher is already seeing a steady slide from its 27th Feb at 362p to their price as at today of 274.5p, a drop of 24% in some 5 months.