Kingfisher, Europe's biggest home improvements retailer, has reported a 6.2% increase in first-half profit but warned that it expected the second half would be tough in the UK market.
Kingfisher, which owns UK market leader B&Q and France's Castorama, made an adjusted pre-tax profit of £189.6m for the six months to August 4, as sales rose 9.8% to £4.8 billion. Sales in the Republic of Ireland were up 8.8%.
'In the UK, all our businesses delivered sales growth in a market which remains relatively weak,' chief executive Gerry Murphy said. 'We expect the second half to be tough as recent interest rate rises and current uncertainty in financial markets affect customer behaviour,' he added.
Kingfisher said group retail like-for-like sales rose by 4.3% in the first half. In July, Kingfisher reported that sales growth slowed in the second quarter as wet weather in June and July deterred shoppers at its B&Q stores.
