Kingfisher exits Spain, Portugal and Russia

Véronique Laury, CEO of Kingfisher, has announced that the group, which is active throughout Europe, will withdraw from Russia, Spain and Portugal. The decision was announced parallel to the publication of the group results for the third quarter of 2018. It stated that the step is connected with the restructuring of the group into One Kingfisher, problems with the Castorama brand in France and a focus on Kingfisher's main markets.The brief explanation says: 'We are committed to our plan [editor's note: of One Kingfisher] and to building a strong business for the long-term. As part of this commitment, we have taken the decision to exit Russia, Spain and Portugal.  This will allow us to apply our strategy with more focus and efficiency in our main markets where we are or can be active.'This will affect 28 stores of the brand Brico Dépôt in Spain which represented 175 000 m² retail space at the start of this year, 20 Castorama stores in Russia which represented 201 000 m², as well as 3 Brico Dépôt locations in Portugal which represented 20 000 m². Exactly when the stores will be closed was not disclosed.Kingfisher has been struggling with difficulties on several European markets for a long time, including the English home market and in France. In the latest financial report for the third quarter of 2018, the company announced that group-wide sales had risen by 1.4 per cent, while they had dropped by 0.7 per cent on a like-for-like basis. There was a particularly sharp decline in France of 3.9 per cent (like-for-like minus 3.4 per cent) with the brands Castorama and Brico Dépôt. In the region of the United Kingdom and Ireland, sales by the Screwfix brand rose by 10.6 per cent (like-for-like plus 4.1 per cent) while they declined for the main brand B&Q by 2.8 per cent (like-for-like minus 2.9 per cent). In Poland, sales rose in the third quarter by 2.4 per cent (like-for-like plus 1.4 per cent), on the Iberian Peninsula by 0.9 per cent (like-for-like plus 2.0 per cent), in Romania by 77.1 per cent (like-for-like minus 0.5 per cent) and in Germany by 5.8 per cent (like-for-like plus 6.4 per cent). In Russia sales fell by 6.4 per cent (like-for-like plus 2.7 per cent).