Fine weather drives B&Q and Screwfix owner Kingfisher first-half profits to €441m

Kingfisher, which owns B&Q and Screwfix, made an adjusted pretax profit of £368m (€441m) in the six months to July 31. In May, B&Q opened three new stores in Ireland. Picture: Rui Vieira/PA Wire

European home improvement retailer Kingfisher, which owns B&Q and Screwfix, 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.

The group, which trades from about 1,900 stores in seven countries, made an adjusted pretax profit of £368m (€441m) in the six months to July 31, on sales up 1% to £6.81bn (€7.78bn), with market share gains in the UK, France, and Spain.

Like-for-like sales were up 3.9% in Ireland and the UK. In May, B&Q opened three new stores in Ireland in Navan, Waterford, and Letterkenny. The store openings followed the acquisition by B&Q of three leasehold stores, formerly trading as Homebase, for €3.79m. B&Q now has 11 stores in the Republic of Ireland, in Cork, Galway, Athlone, Limerick, Naas, Cork and three Dublin stores in Swords, Tallaght, Liffey Valley, Navan, Waterford, and Letterkenny, with a further five stores in the North. Screwfix has 40 stores around the Republic of Ireland and 15 stores in Northern Ireland. 

Shares in the FTSE-100 listed group which also owns 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-£540m (€548m-€617m), versus the £528m (€603m) 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 £300m (€343m) programme slated to complete by March 2026.

Demand in Ireland and the UK was 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 UK 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.