B&Q-owner Kingfisher PLC (LSE:KGF) added 6.3% following a promising interim earnings report published on Tuesday.
The FTSE 100-listed group delivered half-year results that seemed in line with expectations, with adjusted pre-tax profit dipping half a percentage point on top-line sales that dipped 1.4%.
It marks a considerable improvement from the 29% falling in adjusted PBT in the first half of 2023, suggesting a welcome recovery in the DIY market.
Barclays analysts called the results “a complicated beat”.
“The headline… numbers look very strong, although some of the outperformance is due to helpful (first-half/second-half) cost timing and £25 million of UK business rates recovery,” said analysts at the bank.
Analysts at Jefferies noted that PBT at £334 million was significantly ahead of the consensus forecast of £286 million "primarily driven by £25 million of one-off business rate refunds at B&Q and phasing of the £120 million of cost savings announced in March".
A 3.8% decline in second-quarter like-for-like sales was worse than the consensus forecast of 2.8% and the first-quarter decline of 2.8%, but the decline in Q3 so far of 0.3% was slightly better than the 0.6% fall expected, with the UK and France trading ahead of their Q2 run-rate.
Kingfisher stock was lifted to a 31-month high of 309.7p.