By James Davey
LONDON (Reuters) -European home improvement retailer Kingfisher raised its full-year profit outlook on Tuesday after reporting a better-than-expected 10.2% rise for the first half, driven by a strong performance in the UK, sending its shares sharply higher.
Shares in the FTSE-100 listed group, which owns B&Q and Screwfix in the UK and Castorama and Brico Depot in France and other markets, were up 17.5% after it said it was now targeting the “upper end” of guidance for full-year adjusted pretax profit of 480-540 million pounds ($650-730 million), versus the 528 million made in 2024/25.
The stock was also boosted by Kingfisher upgrading its guidance for free cash flow and a move to accelerate its share buyback programme, with the current 300 million pound programme slated to complete by March 2026.
The group, which trades from about 1,900 stores in seven countries, made an adjusted pretax profit of 368 million pounds in the six months to July 31, on sales up 1% to 6.81 billion pounds, with market share gains in the UK, France and Spain.
Like-for-like sales were up 3.9% in the UK and Ireland, driven by demand for paints, tools and hardware, “continued momentum” in big-ticket areas such as kitchens and bathrooms, and strong sales of garden furniture and barbecues, helped by good weather.
“We have seen a resilient consumer in the UK,” Chief Executive Thierry Garnier told reporters.
But he said he was mindful of still relatively high inflation, uncertainty ahead of the government’s budget on November 26 amid speculation of further tax rises, and signs of softness in the labour market.
In France, like-for-like sales fell 2.1%, reflecting a more subdued consumer backdrop.
Analysts at RBC Europe said Kingfisher had delivered first-half profit beats in all divisions.
“We see potential for DIY trends to be fairly resilient, helped by consumers looking to save money and to improve their homes,” they said. ($1 = 0.7402 pounds)
(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Sarah Young)
