B&Q's stores revamp hits profits

The company has revamped 5.5 million square feet of store space

Annual profits at Kingfisher, the owner of DIY chain B&Q, have fallen 2.8% as a result of the cost of revamping its stores and product range.

The company said pre-tax profits were £386m in the 12 months to 2 February, down from £397m a year earlier.

Kingfisher performed better outside its home UK market. Profits at Castorama and Brico Depot stores in Poland were up 42%, and up 13% in France.

The firm said it would concentrate on keeping costs down in the coming year.

It will reduce the full-year dividend it pays to shareholders by half to 3.4 pence.

Kingfisher also said it expects to make a similar reduction to its six-monthly dividend.

Modernisation

"We made a major step forward in improving B&Q's offer to customers, introducing more new products and modernising more store space than ever before," said Kingfisher chairman Peter Jackson.

B&Q updated 60% of its product ranges last year and modernised the layout of half of its retail space.

Kingfisher said sales at B&Q in China were flat, when new store openings are excluded from the figures.

The company said this was due to a slowdown in new apartment sales, but asserted that the Chinese market "remains fundamentally attractive".