B&Q and Screwfix owner Kingfisher posts full-year profits plunge as weather hits sales

It is the first time in five years that the DIY giant has recorded a slide in group profits.

Group sales dipped 2.4% to £10.57bn and retail profit fell 11.4% to £781m. Like-for-likes dropped 2.9%.

In the UK and Ireland, which comprises B&Q and Screwfix, retail profit slumped 13.7% to £234m against a 0.5% sales dip, or 2% in constant currency, to £4.32bn. Like-for-likes fell 5.2% over the year.

The retailer put the UK slump down to weak consumer confidence along with the adverse weather last summer. The retailer said it lost around £25m of profit due to the inclement weather.

B&Q like-for-likes dropped 5.6% and total sales fell 3.6% to £3.7bn. Sales of outdoor seasonal products were down about 9% with average footfall down 20% in the severely weather-affected weeks.

Its Irish B&Q stores were placed into examinership earlier this year.  

Meanwhile, Screwfix total sales soared 9.8% to £577m as it opened 60 new stores over the period, taking the total to 275. Retail profit was up 33.9% to £47m. It plans to open a further 50 Screwfix stores in its current year.

Kingfisher chief executive Ian Cheshire acknowledged it had a “tough year”, which he put down to the “record adverse weather” in the UK as well as declining underlying markets in its three key territories.

He said: “While we have been unable to fully offset these headwinds, the hard work of our teams and our firm focus on our established programme of self-help initiatives means we ended the year in good shape with higher market share.”

“Looking ahead, although we expect market conditions to remain challenging, we will continue to actively manage the business, optimising the generation and use of cash and driving longer-term success through our own actions.  I remain very confident in our prospects, with clear initiatives underway to make it easier for our customers to have better and more sustainable homes.”