Kingfisher suffering as well

For the first quarter of its financial year (February to 4 May 2013) Kingfisher announced a sales decline amounting to 0.4 per cent for a total of ₤ 2.623 bn. In like-for-like terms sales were as much as 4.2 per cent down. Kingfisher’s sales in Britain and Ireland fell by 3.4 per cent (-4.7 per cent like-for-like) for a total of ₤ 1.068 bn, in France by 0.9 per cent (-5.6 per cent like-for-like) to ₤ 1.079 bn. By contrast, the DIY retailer achieved sales growth of 8.6 per cent in Russia, China, Poland, Spain and Turkey for a combined total of ₤ 486 mio. The company attributes the negative sales trend in the first quarter of 2013 above all to fewer trading days and the miserable weather in Europe.