B&Q owner warns of weak ‘big-ticket’ sales but strong trade growth

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Image © B&Q

Kingfisher, which owns retailers including B&Q and Screwfix, has reported Q1 sales of £3.3bn with total sales falling by 0.3% due to a weak market in both French and Poland.

In the UK, sales increased by 1.2% with like-for-like sales at B&Q and Screwfix rising by 0.4% and 2.4% respectively. While in France, sales at Castorama and Brico Dépôt declined by 5.3% – this was in line with expectations.

Thierry Garnier, chief executive officer, Kingfisher, said: “We have seen continued resilience in our core categories, although ‘big-ticket’ sales have been weak reflecting the broader market as expected. In the UK, we have gained considerable share across our banners.”

Garnier stressed that the group’s trade arm continues to “resonate with customers”. It saw positive LFL sales at Screwfix and strong LFL sales growth of 8.5% at TradePoint.

Additionally, its ecommerce and marketplace offering continues to grow. Ecommerce sales grew by 12.7% and it has now expanded the marketplace model into France. It is also growing its Screwfix offering across France.

Looking ahead, Garnier noted that the group will learn from its TradePoint success – attracting trade customers in the UK – and will widened trade loyalty programmes across all its banners. The group will also focus on advancing its data, AI and retail media initiatives.

“We remain focused on driving productivity gains and maintaining tight control of our costs and inventories. In France we are pushing ahead with our plan to improve performance, having successfully completed our structural simplification and transitioned to new leadership at Castorama” said Garnier.

“Looking forward, we confirm the guidance outlined in March for the full year, including our expectations for the overall market in 2024.”

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As part of the DeliveryX Warehousing 2024 report, available to pre-register for now, B&Q discuss their world-class fulfilment service. This interview is one of three in the full report, with Pets and Home and Furniturebox also speaking to Katie Searles about the critical part warehousing plays in retail operations.


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