Kingfisher, Europe's largest home improvement retailer, is targeting a £500m increase in sustainable annual profit in five years time, it said today.
The company trades as B&Q in Ireland, B&Q and Screwfix in Britain and Castorama and Brico Depot in France and other countries.
In a strategy update, it also said it planned a capital return of £600m over the next three years, expected to be through a share buyback, in addition to annual dividend payments.
Kingfisher estimated that its plan, which entails improving its operational and online capabilities and driving efficiencies, would cost £800m.
It said the plan would hit its profits in the first year by about £50m and in the second year by about £70-100m.
Kingfisher chief executive Véronique Laury has been in the job since December 2014.
In March last year she detailed plans to reshape Kingfisher, including closing 60 B&Q stores while expanding the number of Screwfix outlets, cutting the number of product lines, merging the garden and bathroom businesses and revitalising its big stores across Europe.
"With a clear roadmap now in place alongside clear long-term targets, the size of the five year opportunity is significant," said Laury.
Prior to today's update analysts were on average forecasting a 2015-16 pretax profit of £667m, down from £675m in the previous year.
Shares in the company, the world's third biggest home improvement player behind US groups Lowe's and Home Depot, have fallen 6% over the last six months.
