Essential reading for retailers and suppliers in the home improvement market

Not-so-good Q2 for B&Q as sales drop by 2.5%

Published: 24 July 2014
The second quarter has brought mixed results for Kingfisher-owned B&Q and Screwfix - B&Q sales are down 2.5%, whereas Screwfix has grown by 22.6%.
Not-so-good Q2 for B&Q as sales drop by 2.5%
B&Q has blamed its poor sales performance in Q2, which is down 3.2% like-for-like on last year, on a drop in sales of outdoor and seasonal products.

This category makes up 35% of total sales for the DIY retailer and in Q2 sales fell by 8%. B&Q says this was due to a strong Q1 performance where sales grew by 30% and a strong Q2 last year where sales grew 17%.

Showroom sales during the quarter were down 6%, reflecting less promotional activity, but sales of indoor products were up almost 2%.

Despite a poor Q2 B&Q has had an encouraging start to the year as sales to date are up 4.3% and up 3.6% LFL.

However, it's a completely different story for sister company Screwfix, which seems to be unstoppable.

Sales for the tool retailer during Q2 grew by 22.6%, 11.8% LFL, and during those 10 weeks it opened 12 stores taking the number of outlets in its portfolio to 356.

The start to the year has been even more impressive for the retailer as sales to date are up 23.5%, 11.9% LFL.

Total sales for parent company Kingfisher during the 10 weeks to July 12 are up marginally by 0.8%, but down 1.8% on a LFL basis.

Chief executive of Kingfisher, Sir Ian Cheshire, commented: "Trading in our Q2 was always expected to be more difficult, annualising a very strong Q2 performance last year and following this year's weather boosted Q1.

"However, our markets in Q2, notably in June, have been much slower than anticipated particularly in France and Poland.

"It is unclear whether this recent weakness is short term phasing in nature, though we will know more by our interims in September having then traded through our key summer months.

"In the mean time we are accelerating our self-help margin and cost initiatives to help support our second half performance."

Kingfisher announced in April it had entered into negotiations to buy French DIY chain Mr Bricolage and now the home improvement retailer has announced the transaction has become binding.

Sir Ian added: "Adding a third, complementary strong business alongside Castorama and Brico Dépôt will provide us with an attractive growth opportunity in our most important market."

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