B&Q owner Kingfisher increases half-year profit outlook as sales soar

Prime Minister Boris Johnson chooses a plant as he visits the garden centre in the B&Q store in Middlesbrough.

The group saw UK and Ireland like-for-like sales jump 65% in the three months to April 30, although trading from a year earlier was impacted by temporary store closures in the first lockdown.

Against pre-pandemic levels two years ago, same-store sales were 38.6% higher across B&Q and Screwfix.

It added that like-for-like sales in its second quarter so far across the UK and Ireland are 23.9% higher.

Groupwide like-for-like sales in the first quarter lifted 64.2% in the first quarter and were 22.5% higher on a two-year basis.

Kingfisher said it now expects half-year profits to beat expectations and come in at between around £580 million and £600 million.

Thierry Garnier, chief executive of Kingfisher, said: “With the strong start to the year, we now anticipate first-half sales and adjusted pre-tax profit to be ahead of our previous expectations.

“Whilst the second half of the financial year remains naturally uncertain, we continue to see supportive long-term trends for our industry and are confident of continued outperformance of our wider markets.”