Sales up, profit down

Kingfisher has announced sales of £ 9.364 bn (€ 13.552 bn) for the 2007/2008 financial year, which amounts to growth of 7.9 per cent, or 8.0 per cent in constant currency and 2.6 per cent like-for-like. Pre-tax profit was 2.8 per cent down at £ 386 mio (€ 559 mio). The group realised £ 4.395 bn (€ 6.360 bn) in the United Kingdom, which amounts to an increase of 5.1 per cent on the previous year (0.4 per cent like-for-like). Business developed positively in France, where sales increased by 7.2 per cent in constant currency to £ 3.224 bn (€ 4.666 bn), or 2.6 per cent in like-for-like terms. The group recorded sales of £ 1.273 bn (€ 1.842 bn) in the rest of Europe (Poland, Italy, Russia and Spain), amounting to 22.8 per cent more than one year previously, and 12.2 per cent like-for-like. Business was poor in Asia. Even though sales rose by 7.0 per cent to £ 472 mio (€ 683 mio), like-for-like growth was no more than 0.1 per cent. A summary of the way the sales of the individual trading formats developed in the different countries can be found under the Trade Topics heading at DIYglobal plus.