Kingfisher’s shares dive as B&Q feels the heat over trading

The company has been hit by softer trading in France and Poland, while revenues at B&Q were down by 3.2 per cent on an underlying basis in the 10 weeks to July 12 as sales of outdoor and seasonal products slumped 8 per cent on a year ago.

Chief executive Sir Ian Cheshire said the quarter was always expected to be difficult after good weather brought forward sales into the previous quarter and the company came up against tough comparisons with last year.

However, he added: “Our markets in the second quarter, notably in June, have been slower than anticipated particularly in France and Poland.”

Shares slumped by more than 7 per cent in the wake of the update, which led retail analyst Freddie George of Cantor Fitzgerald to cut his ‘top end of the range’ forecast for profits this year from £805m to £780m.

He said the distraction of the World Cup was another factor in the disappointing performance.

Kingfisher is the world’s third largest home improvement chain, with 1,134 stores in nine countries in Europe and Asia. Its main brands are B&Q and Screwfix in the UK and Ireland and Castorama and Brico Depot in France.

Screwfix sales grew by 11.8 per cent on a like-for-like basis but the supplier of tools and hardware products, failed to prevent overall UK and Ireland underlying sales falling by 1.3 per cent in the quarter.