Kingfisher, Europe's biggest home-improvements retailer, said lower fourth-quarter sales at its UK market leader B&Q were partly offset by a strong performance from Castorama in France and Poland.
The retailer said group like-for-like sales fell 0.5% in the 13 weeks to February 2 while full-year adjusted pretax profit would be in line with market consensus forecasts. Like-for-like sales at B&Q fell 1.7%, while those at France's Castorama rose 3%.
Kingfisher's new chief executive, Ian Cheshire, the former B&Q head who replaced Gerry Murphy last month, said B&Q, which is undergoing a revamp, had made good progress in a challenging market.
'By focusing on improving product choice, store environment and service for customers, B&Q now has a stronger platform to face what is expected to be a tougher consumer environment,' Cheshire said in the trading update.
Like other UK home-improvement retailers, Kingfisher is battling a slowdown in consumer spending, with shoppers hit by higher bills and a weakening housing market.
Cheshire said that the group had revamped 50% of its ranges and 39 of the 115 large warehouses.
Kingfisher's international business, which accounts for more than half of group sales, continued to grow with Castorama in France and Poland performing particularly strongly.
The company operates nearly 760 stores in nine countries in Europe and Asia. Rest of Europe like-for-like sales rose 4.4% in the fourth quarter, while those in Asia fell 7.5%, reflecting the continued impact of the slowdown in new apartment sales in major Chinese markets and changing supplier regulations.
