Kingfisher's first-half sales slightly down on previous year

UK-based Kingfisher Group has ended the first half of its 2023/2024 financial year (February to July) with a slight drop in revenue. Adjusted for currency effects, sales of GBP 6.880 bn (EUR 7.978 bn) were 1.0 per cent below the corresponding figure for the previous year, and 2.2 per cent lower on a like-for-like basis. Overall, however, the sales development was slightly better than planned, according to the half-year report.

The figures in Great Britain and Ireland developed positively. Here, both the B&Q sales line (+1.0 per cent) and Screwfix (+3.1 per cent) increased; overall, like-for-like growth was 1.7 per cent.

All other country markets closed in the red. In France (-3.8 per cent) Castorama's like-for-like and currency-adjusted sales were 2.7 per cent lower, Brico Dépôt 5.0 per cent lower. The rates of change in the other countries: Poland -10.9 per cent, Spain and Portugal -1.2 per cent, Romania -4.9 per cent.

In all countries and sales divisions, the core assortments and the big ticket assortments generally performed better than the seasonal product groups.

E-commerce sales increased by 7.1 per cent compared to the same period last year, with particularly strong growth in the UK and Ireland as well as in France. The company states that e-commerce accounts for 16.8 per cent of the group's turnover. The vast majority of orders, namely 92 percent, are picked up in the store.