B&Q owner Kingfisher has said that its third quarter results “followed a similar trend to the first half of the year”, reflecting the more encouraging macroeconomic backdrop in the UK offset by a softer market in France.
The group also owns Screwfix as well as the French chains Castorama and Brico Dépôt.
In a statement, Kingfisher said that total sales in the UK and Ireland were up 5.5% (up 4.6% on a like-for-like basis) reflecting a stronger economy. This increase was largely down to the Screwfix division, which saw sales increase 23.4% whilst B&Q saw a 1.2% increase.
Meanwhile, total sales in France were up 1.5% (up 0.1% on a like-for-like basis) reflecting a continuing soft market.
Véronique Laury, CEO, said: "In the meantime, we continue to make good progress with our 'ONE' Kingfisher plan. The unified IT system, a key enabler of this journey, continues to progress well. In addition we have secured a further five agreements on the B&Q stores already planned for closure, taking the total to 31. I am very encouraged by development work on the first wave of the unified 'core essential' ranges, which will land in stores from next year. We now look forward to updating you on the detail of our long term strategy in early 2016."
