Full year pretax profits at B&Q-owner Kingfisher were
down 11 percent to £715 million as unfavourable foreign exchange rates and the
wet UK summer took their toll on the DIY specialist. B&Q UK & Ireland’s
total sales were down 3.6 percent to £3.7 billion during the past year,
reflecting difficult trading in the UK and “a particularly challenging
environment” in Ireland, where its nine stores incurred losses of £7 million
and are now subject to an examinership process. Delivering its results this
morning, Kingfisher said one of the key priorities for the year ahead was
readying B&Q’s online offer for a full relaunch in 2014, based on
Screwfix’s successful “omnichannel” approach. Screwfix did much better than its
sister last year, reporting a sales increase of 9.8 percent to £577 million,
thanks to the continued rollout of new outlets, the success of “click, pay
& collect” and a redesigned catalogue. Sixty new outlets were opened,
taking the total to 275. Retail profit at Screwfix was up 33.9 percent to £47
million.
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