Kingfisher, Europe's largest home improvement retailer, beat forecasts with a 0.3% rise in annual profit, though it said it remained cautious on the outlook for France, its most profitable market.
The firm trades as B&Q in Ireland and the UK, Screwfix in the UK and Castorama and Brico Depot in France and other markets.
It said today it made an underlying pretax profit of £686m in the year to January 31.
That compares with analysts' average forecast of £667m and £684m made in the 2014-15 year.
"In the short term, the fundamentals of the UK economic backdrop remain positive, although we remain cautious on the outlook for France," the firm said.
The company said that its total UK and Ireland sales were up 5.6% to £4.85 billion as the company benefited from a stronger UK economy and a more buoyant housing construction market. Retail profit grew by 18% to £326m.
It added that sales at its B&Q DIY outlets increased by 1.1% to £3.799 billion.
"In the short term, the fundamentals of the UK economic backdrop remain positive, although we remain cautious on the outlook for France," Kingfisher's chief financial officer Karen Witts said.
"The outlook for the wider global economy remains uncertain, and the impact of the outcome of the UK EU referendum is unknown," she added.
In January, the company's chief executive Véronique Laury announced a strategy to boost annual profit by £500m from 2021 that will cost £800m over five years to deliver.
She said the firm would return £600m to shareholders over the next three years through share buybacks.
Her plans include improving its e-commerce capabilities and improving efficiency.
