Growth fair to middling

In the fourth quarter of the 2007/2008 financial year (to 2 February 2008), Kingfisher recorded sales of £ 2.180 bn (€ 2.914 bn), or 4.0 per cent more than the same period of the previous year. However, this amounts to a decline of 0.5 per cent in like-for-like terms. The B&Q chain in the United Kingdom increased sales by 0.2 per cent to £ 989 mio (€ 1.322 bn); this is 1.7 per cent less than a year ago like-for-like. Sales in France went up by 4.3 per cent, and 1.1 per cent like-for-like, reaching £ 754 mio (€ 1.008 bn). In the remaining European sales area the group recorded an increase of 14.3 per cent (4.4 per cent like-for-like) to £ 315 mio (€ 421 mio). Business in Asia experienced a downward trend, though, with sales of £ 122 mio (€ 163 mio) amounting to a decline of 6.4 per cent, and 7.5 per cent less like-for-like.