No quick fix for DIY chain

B&Q owner Kingfisher warned there was “no quick fix” to its problems as it posted a slump in sales at the DIY chain, and said it will exit Russia, Spain and Portugal to focus on its core markets.

B&Q in the UK saw a 2.9% fall in likefor-like sales in the three months to October 31.

It bemoaned a difficult retail market as total sales at B&Q also dipped 2.8% to £850 million, amid consumer belttightening in the UK.

In France, its troubled Castorama business saw comparable sales plummet 7.3%.

Chief executive Veronique Laury, who is overseeing a five-year strategic overhaul of the firm, said: “Transformation on this scale is tough, and we are operating in a difficult retail environment.

“We face challenges and we are addressing them.

“Our main challenge is Castorama France and we shared our action plan to fix it at the half year. Our action plan is now implemented for this year.

“We have accelerated our move to an everyday low-price strategy and have launched a new marketing campaign to make it visible to our customers, however there is no quick fix.”

Kingfisher said it was exiting Russia, Spain and Portugal to focus on markets where it has or can potentially have a “market leading position”.

One brighter spot was Screwfix, which saw a 4.1% like-for-like sales rise.

B&Q sales in the UK fell by 2.9% in the three months to October 31.