Q1 Trading Update

RNS Number : 0986P

Kingfisher PLC

24 May 2018

 

Thursday 24 May 2018: Q1 trading update to 30 April 2018

Financial highlights

Sales 2018/19 % Total Change % Total Change % LFL(1) Change £m Reported Constant currency Constant currency UK & Ireland    1,223 (3.7)% (3.7)% (5.4)% - B&Q UK & Ireland 828 (8.8)% (8.8)% (9.0)% - Screwfix 395 +9.0% +9.0% +3.6% France 1,074 (1.0)% (3.6)% (3.9)% - Castorama 554 (5.6)% (8.1)% (8.0)% - Brico Dépôt 520 +4.4% +1.7% +0.8% Other International 528 +4.5% +3.0% (0.5)% - Poland 338 +8.0% +3.0% +1.8% - Iberia (2) 82 (3.0)% (5.6)% (5.6)% - Russia 68 (20.2)% (9.3)% (6.5)% - Romania (3) 37 +84.5% +84.7% +1.6% - Screwfix Germany 3 +21.1% +17.9% +18.6% Total Group 2,825 (1.2)% (2.5)% (4.0)%

·     Q1 LFL down 4.0% reflecting unusually adverse weather conditions which impacted footfall. Impact on LFL sales of weather related categories & temporary UK store closures:

o  At Group level around 3% of 4% decline

o  At operating company level:

§ B&Q c.-6% (outdoor products & snow related store closures)

§ Castorama France c.-4% (outdoor products)

§ Screwfix c.-2% (snow related store closures)

·     Still on track to deliver Year 3 strategic milestones of our transformation plan

·     Further £40m returned (13.5m shares) year to date via share buyback. Have now returned £500m of c.£600m capital return commitment⁽⁴⁾; commencing next £50m of remaining £100m

Véronique Laury, Chief Executive Officer, said:

"It was a challenging start to the year with exceptionally harsh weather across Europe and weak UK consumer demand. This impacted footfall, especially sales of weather related categories. February and March were particularly affected with sales improving over the course of April and into May.

"We are on track to deliver our ONE Kingfisher strategic milestones for the third year in a row and we continue to see tangible delivery of our plan. Around 40% of our ranges are now unified and continue to be well received by customers. Sales of these ranges, excluding outdoor products, are up, and we expect to grow the full year Group gross margin, after clearance costs. Meanwhile, we are into the final year of our unified IT platform roll out with Poland now underway and Brico Dépôt France due to start soon.

"Market conditions continue to be mixed. The UK is uncertain, as demonstrated by recent weak retail sales data; France is encouraging, but volatile; whilst Poland continues to be supportive. We remain confident about delivering the business and customer benefits of our transformation plan, supported by the continued hard work and expertise of our colleagues."

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Q1 trading highlights by division (in constant currencies) UK & IRELAND Total sales -3.7%. LFL -5.4% reflecting a weaker performance at B&Q and a solid performance at Screwfix ·     B&Q UK & Ireland sales -8.8%. LFL -9.0% reflecting ongoing lower footfall and soft demand patterns. Adverse weather conditions and temporary snow related store closures impacted LFL by c.6% ·     Screwfix sales up 9.0%. LFL +3.6% including a c.2% impact from temporary snow related store closures. Ten new outlets opened during Q1 FRANCE Total sales -3.6% (LFL -3.9%). Sales for the home improvement market (Banque de France data(5)) were down c.2% in Q1 ·     Castorama sales -8.1%. LFL -8.0% reflecting adverse weather conditions, impacting LFL by c.4%, and further investment to improve price position ·     Brico Dépôt sales +1.7%. LFL +0.8% reflecting good growth from the new unified ranges, which are starting to re-energise the Brico Dépôt offer, and lower exposure to outdoor products OTHER INTERNATIONAL Total sales in Poland +3.0%. LFL +1.8% reflecting a supportive market with limited impact so far from the changes to Sunday trading laws

Footnotes

⁽¹⁾ Like-for-like sales growth representing the constant currency, year on year sales growth for stores that have been open for more than a year

⁽²⁾ Brico Depôt Spain & Portugal

⁽³⁾ Includes Praktiker Romania acquired on 30 November 2017

⁽⁴⁾ Through to end of FY 2018/19 (over and above the annual ordinary dividend)

⁽⁵⁾ Includes relocated and extended stores http://webstat.banque-france.fr/en/browse.do?node=5384326

Contacts

Investor Relations	Tel: [phone]	Email: [e-mail]
Media Relations	[phone]	[e-mail]
Teneo Blue Rubicon	[phone]	[e-mail]

This announcement can be downloaded from www.kingfisher.com. Data tables for Q1 2018/19 are available for download in excel format at http://www.kingfisher.com/index.asp?pageid=59

Our next announcement will be the Q2 sales update on 16 August 2018.

We can be followed on Twitter @kingfisherplc with the Q1 results tag #KGFQ1. Kingfisher American Depository Receipts are traded in the US on the OTCQX platform:(OTCQX: KGFHY) http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/KGFHY/quote 

Forward-looking statements

You are not to construe the content of this announcement as investment, legal or tax advice and you should make you own evaluation of the Company and the market. If you are in any doubt about the contents of this announcement or the action you should take, you should consult a person authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (as amended) (or if you are a person outside the UK, otherwise duly qualified in your jurisdiction).

This announcement has been prepared in relation to the financial results for the Quarter ended 30 April 2018. The financial information referenced in this announcement is not audited and does not contain sufficient detail to allow a full understanding of the results of the group. Nothing in this announcement should be construed as either an offer or invitation to sell or any offering of securities or any invitation or inducement to any person to underwrite, subscribe for or otherwise acquire securities in any company within the group or an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity under section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (as amended).

Certain information contained in this announcement may constitute "forward-looking statements" (including within the meaning of the safe harbour provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995), which can be identified by the use of terms such as "may", "will", "would", "could", "should", "expect", "anticipate", "project", "estimate", "intend", "continue", "target", "plan", "goal", "aim" or "believe" (or the negatives thereof) or other variations thereon or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts and include statements regarding the Company's intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, the Company's results of operations, financial condition, changes in tax rates, liquidity, prospects, growth and strategies. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results or actual performance of the Company to differ materially from those reflected or contemplated in such forward-looking statements. No representation or warranty is made as to the achievement or reasonableness of and no reliance should be placed on such forward-looking statements.

The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in circumstances or in the Company's expectations.

 

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