Kingfisher has seen its total sales edge up 0.8% to £3.271 billion in its first quarter after the group put in a “resilient” performance in big-ticket categories. On a like-for-like basis, sales were down 3.3%.
In the three months to 30 April, total sales in the UK and Ireland, where Kingfisher operates the B&Q and Screwfix fascias, rose by 1.4%, but were down 0.8% like-for-like due to seasonal categories being impacted by unusually poor spring weather. While total sales at B&Q dropped by 1.5% in the period, sales at Screwfix rose by 6.6%.
Meanwhile sales in France at Kingfisher’s Castorama and Brico Dépôt chains increased by 1.2%. However, sales in Poland and Romania fell by 3.3% and 5.7% respectively, although there was uplift of 8.1% in Iberia.
Kingfisher said it had experienced an improvement in seasonal sales since early April, as well as continued resilience in its core and ‘big-ticket’ categories. For the three weeks to 20 May 2023, like-for-like sales were down 1%, including a 0.4% impact from the additional UK coronation public holiday.
The group said it is comfortable with market expectations for an adjusted full year pre-tax profit of £634 million and expects to report an adjusted pre-tax profit of around £350 million in its first half.
Kingfisher said it is continuing to focus on competitive pricing while balancing inflationary pressures.
