B&Q owner confident of long-term prospects

B&Q owner Kingfisher predicted a brighter outlook for the home improvement market today, despite seeing profits fall for the second successive year.

Kingfisher posted pre-tax profits of £396.6m (€584.9m) for the year to February 3, a fall of 11% on last year but ahead of analysts’ forecasts of £389m (€573.7m).