B&Q pushes up Kingfisher's sales

B&Q is hoping to revamp its look and products to help grow Kingfisher profits

Home improvements retailer Kingfisher has said sales at its B&Q chain have risen, spurred by higher sales of seasonal products.

Like-for-like sales at UK chain rose 0.2% in the three months to the end of June, an improvement on the 8.1% fall it announced in the previous quarter.

The news pushed up Kingfisher's shares by almost 16% in early trading.

Sales also rose when compared with the previous three-month's figures, which were affected by bad weather.

Cautious outlook

Ian Cheshire, Kingfisher's group chief executive, said the figures showed an improvement but the UK market was still tough.

"We are cautious about the consumer outlook, however I am confident that the investments made in recent years have improved our value credentials," he said.

This would leave the group "well placed to trade effectively in difficult times," he added.

Mr Cheshire recently became Kingfisher's chief executive and was charged with the task of turning around the group's fortunes which have slid over the past three years.

Efforts to improve the company's decline include a B&Q store revamp, a more modern product range and a heavier focus on customer service.

Despite the better-than-expected results, analysts remained sceptical about the group's future prospects, which also has major interests in Europe and the Far East.

Kingfisher is the number one home improvements retail group in Europe and the the world number three.

European retailers are struggling as consumers limit non-essential spending and the housing market continues to falter.

Across the group, total sales were up 4.4% but fell 1.5% on a like-for-like basis, particularly affected by poor results in China where the housing market is weak.

Richard Hunter, head of UK Equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, said B&Q had shown "resilience" but added "there are no signs of recovery in the nearer term for broad prospects and consumer sentiment is likely to weigh further on sales".