B&Q owner Kingfisher misses targets for sales growth

B&Q stores owner Kingfisher missed forecasts for sales growth in its latest quarter, held back by the weak performance of its French businesses.

Shares in the group were down 2.6%, extending year-on-year losses to 19%, after it said like-for-like sales rose 0.8% in the three months to April 30, its fiscal first quarter - below analysts’ consensus forecast for growth of about 1.6%.