SHARE OF THE WEEK

WHILE the pandemic savaged sales for many retailers, B&Q and Screwfix-owner Kingfisher celebrated 2020 as one of its best years in some time.

The firm benefited from a DIY boom as homeowners took to making improvements during lockdown, and boss Thierry Garnier’s turnaround plan finally seems to be paying off.

The question for investors, however, is whether Kingfisher can sustain its momentum as it prepares to unveil its first-half results on Tuesday.

Garnier seemed to think so. In a trading update in July, he raised his sales forecast after a 64pc gain in the first quarter – despite flagging a 1.3pc drop in sales for the second quarter.

Kingfisher guided to first-half profits of between £645m and £660m, up from previous projections of between £580m and £600m and against £415m a year ago.

But analysts will be looking for any guidance relating to the second half of the year, and whether the final six months of 2021 will be able to show any improvement on a very strong period a year ago.

They are pencilling in a fall in sales over the period of 6.6pc, leaving like-for-like numbers down 1.9pc for the entire year.

And shareholders will be eager for news on the dividend. A run of nine straight increases ended in the year to January 2019, as the business planned a shake-up, and cancelled its final dividend a year later as the pandemic struck.

In March it announced a fullyear dividend of 8.25p for the year ending in January 2021, and investors will now be hoping for an interim payout.