Sales up, profits down

Even though Kingfisher sold more in the third quarter than in the comparable period last year – with sales up 6.4 per cent to £ 2.409 bn (€ 3.374 bn), or 1.9 per cent like-for-like – profits were 1.9 per cent down at £ 171.7 mio (€ 240.5 mio). Kingfisher’s sales in the UK saw growth of 3.5 per cent to £ 1.085 bn (€ 1.52 bn), which amounts to a 0.5 per cent drop in like-for-like terms. By contrast, business in France experienced positive development with sales up 5.6 per cent to £ 856 mio (€ 1.199 bn), or 2.3 per cent like-for-like. In the rest of Europe (Poland, Italy, Spain, Russia and Turkey), sales increased by 18.5 per cent to £ 345 mio (€ 483 mio), or 10.1 per cent like-for-like. According to information from the group, Poland performed extremely well, recording sales growth of 24.5 per cent to £ 194.1 mio (€ 271.9 mio), or 18.3 per cent like-for-like. The group achieved sales growth of 8.6 per cent in Asia to £ 112.7 mio (€ 157.9 mio), or 0.4 per cent like-for-like.