Kingfisher records positive sales in UK while sales in France fall

In its first quarter results, home improvement retailer Kingfisher Group recorded total sales of £3.3bn, down 0.3% on a reported basis and 0.9% on a like-for-like basis.

Its UK and Ireland division saw like-for-like sales grow 1.2%, with B&Q sales seeing a slight increase of 0.4% boosted by a “strong performance in ecommerce and the trade segment”.

Screwfix like-for-like sales rose 2.4% with demand from trade customers, strong market share gains, and positive year-on-year sales growth in most categories. 

TradePoint recorded like-for-like sales growth of 8.5%.

Kingfisher’s France division recorded a like-for-like sales decline of 5.3%, which was expected due to an “ongoing weakness in the broader market”.

Castorama like-for-like sales fell 5.5%, while Brico Dépôt like-for-like sales slipped 5.2%. 

Poland, Iberia and Romania all saw like-for-like sales grow 0.4%, 1.9% and 14.7% respectively.

Across Kingfisher, core like-for-like sales and big-ticket like-for-like sales fell 0.3% and 6.3%, respectively, but seasonal like-for-like sales grew 1.9%.

The group’s full-year guidance remains unchanged, as it anticipates adjusted profit before tax of £490m to £550m.

Resilient ecommerce sales

Kingfisher chief executive Thierry Garnier said: “Trading in the first quarter has been in line with our expectations. We have seen continued resilience in our core categories, although ‘big-ticket’ sales have been weak reflecting the broader market as expected.

“We continue to drive our strategic priorities at pace and remain focused on delivering market share growth. Our e-commerce sales grew by 12.7% and we successfully expanded our marketplace model to France.

“We delivered further expansion of Screwfix in France, and advanced our data, AI and retail media initiatives. Leveraging our learnings from TradePoint in attracting trade customers in the UK, we are excited to have widened trade loyalty programmes across all our banners.”

He continued: “We remain focused on driving productivity gains and maintaining tight control of our costs and inventories. In France, we are pushing ahead with our plan to improve performance, having successfully completed our structural simplification and transitioned to new leadership at Castorama.

“Looking forward, we confirm the guidance outlined in March for the full year, including our expectations for the overall market in 2024.”