B&Q fourth quarter results

It seems that B&Q, the home and garden retailer owned by Kingfisher, would have been in the black for the final quarter of 2009 if it had not been for the long periods of snow and ice.

Kingfisher plcreported Q4 total sales down 1% (LFL down 3%) to £2.3 billion impacted by adverse weather. Expects adjusted full
year pre-tax profit to be up strongly on the prior year and slightly
ahead of current analyst consensus estimates.

B&Q total sales declined by 1.6% to £836 million (-3.5% LFL) reflecting exceptional adverse weather in January with all
categories displaying similar trends. Prior to the adverse weather, LFL
was slightly up. Gross margins are expected to be strongly up
reflecting reduced promotional activity compared to Q4 last year,
better sales of higher margin products and continued shrinkage
reduction and supply chain cost efficiencies.

Ian Cheshire, Group Chief Executive, said:

“Underlying sales trends remained relatively resilient in the fourth quarter before trading in January was significantly disrupted by the heavy snow and low temperatures across Europe,
particularly in the UK and Poland. However, our on-going programme of self-help initiatives on gross margin and costs resulted in strong quarterly profit growth and so we expect our full year earnings will be slightly ahead of current analyst consensus expectations when we
announce our annual results next month.

“After what has been a busy and productive year I am pleased that we now have a stronger balance sheet, a very experienced leadership team and a clear set of well-established ‘Delivering Value’ initiatives to drive higher cash returns and future growth.”

See the Kingfisher trading statement.

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