Kingfisher’s expansion of Screwfix to see 1,200 jobs

Alongside results showing a 24 per cent rise in half-year profits to £439m, Kingfisher announced that it will open 40 Screwfix stores by the end of next January, 30 of which will be in a new smaller format.

As well as 1,000 jobs at Screwfix, where the expansion will increase the number of stores to 215, another 230 jobs will come from the conversion of 29 former Focus stores into B&Qs. Five are already trading in their new fascia.

A Kingfisher spokesman said that, so far, no details had been revealed about where the new Screwfix stores will be based.

Ian Cheshire, Kingfisher’s chief executive, said the decision to accelerate its opening programme followed a successful trial of new format Screwfix stores, which are almost half the size of existing outlets.

Screwfix’s profits rose by 25 per cent to £17m in the six months to July 30, which helped UK profits overall rise by 6.1 per cent to £182m despite the tough market for all retailers.

B&Q, which has 335 stores, increased profits by 4.5 per cent to £165m after it kept control of costs and sold more higher margin products.

UK and Ireland sales overall fell by one per cent to £2.3bn, with B&Q down by two per cent as revenues were affected by a large stock clearance at rival Focus when it went into administration.

The poor summer weather also hit sales of garden and other outdoor products, which fell by four per cent, while the general squeeze on consumers’ incomes knocked one per cent off non-seasonal lines.

Profits overall for the group were well ahead of market expectations and boosted by a very strong half from Castorama and Brico in France, where profits jumped by 26 per cent to £201m, and the other international businesses, which posted a 27 per cent increase to £90m.

Liberum Capital said Kingfisher had reported very strong half year results.

Analysts from Shore Capital added: “The strategy of delivering innovative products to its customers, while taking costs out and benefiting from an increasing level of joint and direct sourcing is working for Kingfisher.

“The company closed the period with net debt of £186m, but this was in an environment where it invested in Focus stores, bought a couple of freeholds and continued to invest in the business.

“These are a resilient set of results and we are reiterating our buy recommendation. Screwfix performed better than B&Q, but margins across both businesses were nevertheless up.

“Poland continued to deliver growth while the losses in China were reduced to £5m (compared with £11m last year).”