B&Q poised to shock electricals market

B&Q has the potential to win a£130 million share of the UK electricals market within three years.

The retailer, owned by Kingfisher, resisted expansion into the market until recently. Following Kingfisher's demer-ger of electricals specialist Comet last year, B&Q is likely to raise its game.

Analysts at JP Morgan estimate that B&Q stands to snatch 3 per cent of the£3.6 billion electricals market in the next three years.

B&Q is expected to con-centrate on larger kitchen appliances, relying on display models rather than in-store stock. Kingfisher has said it would avoid moving heavily into small domestic appliances, which is an increasingly competitive market.

Meanwhile Comet - now part of Kesa - notched up a 3.9 per cent increase in like-for-like sales from November 2 to January 3.

The 250-store electricals chain buoyed up Kesa's group Christmas sales increase of 10.8 per cent. A weak French market resulted in a flat 0.3 per cent rise at Darty.