Home improvement retailer Kingfisher today reported a 29.5% fall in first-half profit but said trading was resilient despite a cost of living crisis that is eating into household budgets.
Chief executive Thierry Garnier said that sales of all product categories, with the exception of outdoor, had returned to positive like-for-like sales growth over the last week.
"When we look at customer demand we don't see major changes that could show clearly the impacts (of) cost of living," he said, noting customers were not massively trading down to entry priced ranges or to private label products.
He said demand for the 'big ticket' categories of kitchens and bathrooms was robust, while sales of insulation products had soared as consumers seek savings on their energy bills.
"Overall, we see a pretty resilient sales trend," he said.
Despite that, shares in Kingfisher, which owns B&Q and Screwfix in Ireland and Britain and Castorama and Brico Depot in France and other markets, were down 5.5% on concerns over the outlook for the year.
Kingfisher made an adjusted pretax profit of £472m in the six months to July 31, a touch ahead of analysts' average forecast and compared to a Covid-19 boosted £669m a year earlier.
Total sales fell 2.8% on a constant currency basis to £6.81 billion, while like-for-like sales fell 4.1%, having risen 22.8% in the same period last year. The group said it had won market share.
It said third-quarter trading was consistent with its 2022-23 adjusted pretax profit guidance of about £770m.
Like-for-like sales in the third quarter so far were down 0.7% on the year but up 15.2% on a three-year basis.
However, Kingfisher has run several trading scenarios to take into account the potential for a more uncertain economic environment.
These point towards profit outcomes of £730-770m, down from £949m in 2021-22.
