Two-figure growth rates in part

Growth of 14.8 per cent has been announced by Kingfisher for the 2003/2004 financial year (to 31 January 2004). The total sales volume of £ 7.0382 bn (€ 10.4303 bn) yielded a like-for-like increase of 5.1 per cent. On the home market in the United Kingdom, which contributed 59 per cent of group sales, the B&Q stores recorded sales of £ 3.8968 bn (€ 5.7749 bn). This is a 9.8 per cent increase on the previous year (3.9 per cent like-for-like). Screwfix, the mail order division, saw growth of 19.6 per cent to £ 220.6 mio (€ 326.9 mio).
In France the group recorded sales up by 9.5 per cent (in constant currency terms) to £ 2.3278 bn (€ 3.4497 bn), which corresponds to like-for-like growth of 4.7 per cent. Whereas Castorama grew by 2.7 per cent (1.6 per cent like-for-like) to £ 1.5418 mio (€ 2.2849 mio), the Brico Dépôt retail format recorded a double-digit like-for-like sales increase of 12.1 per cent (25.7 per cent overall) for a total of £ 786.1 mio (€ 1.1650 bn).
Kingfisher achieved the strongest rate of growth in Poland, where sales shot up by 26.4 per cent, and 13.1 per cent like-for-like, to £ 285.6 mio (€ 423.3 mio). The figures from the group’s other international areas:
Italy: £ 173.7 mio (€ 257.4 mio), up 12.9 per cent, like-for-like 7.6 per cent.
China: £ 131.5 mio (€ 194.9 mio), up 63.8 per cent, like-for-like 9.1 per cent.