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| B&Q owner Kingfisher's sales hammered by bad weather | B&Q owner Kingfisher's sales hammered by bad weather |
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| Kingfisher, Europe’s largest home improvement retailer, reported another fall in quarterly sales on Thursday, hurt by a slowdown at its B&Q business in the UK, weak sales in France and continued disruption from its restructuring plan. | Kingfisher, Europe’s largest home improvement retailer, reported another fall in quarterly sales on Thursday, hurt by a slowdown at its B&Q business in the UK, weak sales in France and continued disruption from its restructuring plan. |
| The firm, which trades as B&Q and Screwfix in Britain and Castorama and Brico Depot in France and other markets, said it remained cautious on the outlook for the second half. | The firm, which trades as B&Q and Screwfix in Britain and Castorama and Brico Depot in France and other markets, said it remained cautious on the outlook for the second half. |
| Kingfisher is in the second year of a plan to boost annual profit by £500m from 2021 that will cost £800m over five years to deliver. It involves unifying product ranges across the business, improving e-commerce capabilities and driving efficiencies. | Kingfisher is in the second year of a plan to boost annual profit by £500m from 2021 that will cost £800m over five years to deliver. It involves unifying product ranges across the business, improving e-commerce capabilities and driving efficiencies. |
| The group said like-for-like sales fell by 1.9% in its second quarter to 31 July – a deterioration from a fall of 0.6% in the previous quarter. | |
| Like-for-like sales in the UK and Ireland fell by 1.0% and were down by 3.8% in France. | Like-for-like sales in the UK and Ireland fell by 1.0% and were down by 3.8% in France. |
| In the UK B&Q’s like-for-like sales fell by 4.7% – worse than analysts’ expectations of a fall of about 3%. It reflected a 10.7% dip in the sales of seasonal goods such as barbecues and garden furniture, after a strong first quarter boosted by better weather. Screwfix’s like-for-like sales rose by 10.8%. | In the UK B&Q’s like-for-like sales fell by 4.7% – worse than analysts’ expectations of a fall of about 3%. It reflected a 10.7% dip in the sales of seasonal goods such as barbecues and garden furniture, after a strong first quarter boosted by better weather. Screwfix’s like-for-like sales rose by 10.8%. |
| “Having been very aware that this year would be challenging given the step up in transformation activity, we already have self-help plans in place to support our overall year two performance,” said chief executive Véronique Laury. | “Having been very aware that this year would be challenging given the step up in transformation activity, we already have self-help plans in place to support our overall year two performance,” said chief executive Véronique Laury. |
| Kingfisher said it was comfortable with analysts’ average forecast of underlying earnings per share of 26p for the full 2017-18 year. | Kingfisher said it was comfortable with analysts’ average forecast of underlying earnings per share of 26p for the full 2017-18 year. |
| Shares in the group were the biggest fallers in the FTSE 100, dropping just over 3% to 297p. | Shares in the group were the biggest fallers in the FTSE 100, dropping just over 3% to 297p. |