Europe's largest home improvement retailer Kingfisher today posted a smaller-than-expected fall in pre-tax profits and said its UK business should return to profit growth in the second half of the year.
Adjusted pre-tax profits at the owner of Britain's B&Q came in at £178.5m sterling, down 29% from a year ago, due to difficult trading in the UK home improvement market, but still slightly ahead of analysts' average forecast.
Group Chief Executive Gerry Murphy said in a statement that looking ahead there were signs of stabilisation in the UK market, where Kingfisher does more than a third of its business.
'Overall, we expect Kingfisher to make progress in the second half, with B&Q UK returning to profit growth,' he said.
Group sales rose 6% in the six-month period to £4.3 billion, broadly in line with analysts' expectations.
Retail profit fell 20% in the second half in constant currency terms to £231.5m, but was flat in the second quarter, Kingfisher said.
