Kingfisher marks time

In the second quarter of the group’s financial year (1 May to 16 July 2011) Kingfisher, the DIY market leader in Europe, increased sales by one per cent (in constant currencies) compared with the same period last year. This resulted in a minus of 0.5 per cent like-for-like. B&Q, the main retail format in Britain and Ireland, reported a 6.7 per cent reduction in sales. The company puts this setback down to poor weather and the stock clearance by some 178 DIY stores belonging to the insolvent Focus chain. In France the Castorama stores expanded by 2.5 per cent (1.9 per cent like-for-like), while Brico Dépôt’s sales went up by 8.1 per cent (6.1 per cent). The UK group announced an increase of 4.7 per cent (0.3 per cent) for its business in Poland. Sales in Russia were up by 29.8 per cent, and by 3.5 per cent in Spain. B&Q China was 7.2 per cent down (-5.4 per cent) in terms of sales.