By Greg Wright

Published 21st Mar 2023, 09:19 BST

The company behind Screwfix and B&Q has seen profits plummet from their pandemic highs when people stuck at home were investing in their living spaces. In the 12 months to the end of January adjusted pre-tax profit hit £758m, a reduction of more than 20 per cent. This year it is expected to fall to around £633m in line with analysts’ forecasts.

Kingfisher chief executive Thierry Garnier said: “We have maintained a sharp focus on pricing to deliver value to our customers during this challenging period for household finances, while at the same time managing our cost inflation pressures effectively.”

Sales dipped 0.9 per cent to £13.1bn, the company said. Around 11 per cent of this – £1.4bn – came from the sale of energy and water-saving products as households sought to tackle soaring bills. Kingfisher said it is “well placed” to sell loft insulation, LED lighting, underfloor heating and electric radiators. It is also looking at other energy-saving solutions, with B&Q recently starting to sell solar panels.

B&Q and Screwfix owner Kingfisher said it expects its falling profits to drop even further this year, as it revealed that more than £1 in every £10 it made last year came from energy and water-saving products.

It added: “As the ‘green homes’ agenda accelerates, we see considerable potential for our sustainable home products, in particular in the UK and France where the governments have made net zero commitments.

“The ongoing energy crisis adds weight to the urgent need for governments to increase their support of greener homes and energy efficiency.” Kingfisher also said it has exceeded its carbon-cutting target as it slashed emissions by nearly 53 per cent compared with the year ending 2017.

Richard Hunter, Head of Markets at interactive investor, commented “Kingfisher is, without doubt, a leaner and meaner machine following the enforced and accelerated transformation plan following the pandemic. However, these latest numbers show some signs of faltering growth, admittedly compared to a strong set of comparatives from last year.

" A question for investors is whether to compare Kingfisher’s performance against pre-pandemic levels, where there has been significant progress, or against the strong comparatives of last year, where there has not. Indeed, the share price performance echoes this story. Over the three-year period, the share price has risen by 106 per cent, whereas over the last year a decline of 7 per cent compares with a dip of 0.5 per cent for the wider FTSE100 despite a hike of 20 per cent over the last three months.”

Kingfisher sees profits slump despite customers spending £1.4bn to save energy