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The owner of the B&Q, Screwfix and Castorama DIY chains has warned that profits will fall this year, piling pressure on the group to accelerate its turnaround plan.
Kingfisher said on Monday that it was “cautious on the overall market outlook for 2024 due to the lag between housing demand and home improvement demand”.
For this year, Kingfisher forecast adjusted pre-tax profits of £490mn-£550mn, below the £560mn that analysts had predicted. The gloomy outlook came after adjusted pre-tax profits dropped 25 per cent to £568mn in the 12 months to the end of January.
Kingfisher boomed during the pandemic as locked-down consumers renovated their homes, but it has struggled since. DIY markets are typically linked to the strength of the housing market as people spend money renovating their properties after moving.
The group said like-for-like sales in the first quarter were down 2.3 per cent from the same period a year but had improved on the fourth quarter.
Shares in Kingfisher were down almost 3 per cent in early trading.
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