New Screwfix stores prop up B&Q’s owner

B&Q owner Kingfisher leaned on Screwfix to pull up UK sales, as it warned over Brexit and the French presidential elections.

Sales in the DIY giant – which has stores in the UK, France, and other European countries – rose 2.3pc in the year to January 31.

Total revenue was up 7.5pc to £11.2bn, while profit soared 38.2pc to £759m, but this was mainly driven by the fall in the pound since Britain’s Brexit vote.

The results were the first since Kingfisher announced a five-year transformation plan last year.

This saw it close 65 UK stores, slash 3,000 jobs and simplify its product ranges – which had previously been different in each coun- try. Veronique Laury, chief executive, pointed towards uncertainty in France, where the group has lost market share.

The bright spark in results came from Screwfix, which sells tools and hardware.

Kingfisher has opened its 500th Screwfix store in the UK, and Laury, 51, said 200 more would be opened in urban areas and market towns.

In the UK, B&Q is poised to be hit by competition from Australian DIY giant Bunnings, which bought Homebase for £340m.

The Wesfarmers- owned retailer has an ‘always lower price’ promise, which will pile pressure on its rival.

Kingfisher shares fell 5.1pc, or 17.6p, to 328p.