The success of Screwfix‘ mobile click and collect helped the retailer to report sales up by a quarter in the three months to November 1.
The building merchant reported sales of £226m over the period, 25.2% more than at the same time last year, thanks to factors including growing take up of its mobile Click, Pay and Collect initiative and an expanding branch network.
Meanwhile sister company B&Q posted third quarter sales of £922m, 0.9% up on last year. Although the DIY store sold 7.2% more products, price reductions and clearance discounting meant that revenues grew only slightly.
The figures came as parent company Kingfisher reported UK and Ireland sales of £1.15bn in the third quarter of its financial year, representing total growth of 4.9% on the same time last year, or 2.6% on a like-for-like basis, stripping out the effect of store openings and closures. Retail profit of £70m was 11.1% up on last time.
But across the Kingfisher business, which trades in 11 European and Asian countries, third-quarter sales of £2.8bn were 0.9% down on last year, on a like-for-like basis, while retail profit of £225m was down by 11.8%, partly hit by the strengthening sterling.
Sir Ian Cheshire, in his last results announcement as group chief executive, said trading conditions in its largest market of France were difficult and had deteriorated in the quarter thanks to a weak economy. “In the UK however, where conditions have been more favourable, we have delivered like-for-like growth with Screwfix performing particularly well, delivering a 25% increase in sales on top of very strong growth last year. Overall, we remain cautious on the outlook, especially in France, and continue to focus on margin and cost initiatives to support our performance.”
Sir Ian will be succeeded by Véronique Laury next month.
