Positive figures

Europe’s biggest DIY retailer, Kingfisher, succeeded in increasing sales in the first quarter of the 2009/2010 financial year (2 May 2009) by 2.4 per cent in constant currencies to £ 2.641 bn. However, sales were 1.7 per cent down in like-for-like terms. Profit rose by 38.5 per cent in constant currencies to £ 128 mio compared with the previous year. Sales in the United Kingdom amounted to £ 1.163 bn, or 2.9 per cent more than the same period last year (+0.9 per cent like-for-like). In France sales saw an increase of 1.7 per cent to £ 1.064 bn (-2.8 per cent like-for-like). Kingfisher reports a sales increase of 3.2 per cent to £ 414 mio for the group’s other international companies. Nevertheless, like-for-like sales were 6.3 per cent down, due mainly to developments in China, where the company reveals a fall of 23.7 per cent (-23.5 per cent like-for-like).