B&Q and Castorama owner Kingfisher plc (LON:KGF) boosted first-half profits but warned on uncertainty created by the EU referendum.
Kingfisher said adjusted pre-tax profit in the six months to July 31 rose 8.9% to £418mln on a 3.3% increase in like-for-like sales on a constant currency basis to £5.75bn.
Adjusted earnings per share rose 10.6% to 13.6p. The group lifted its interim dividend by 2.2% to 3.25p.
Poland and the UK drove what the company described as a productive first-half performance, especially UK trade counter business Screwfix, while France achieved a stable profit.
Chief executive Véronique Laury said: "In the UK, the EU referendum has created uncertainty for the economic outlook, even though there has been no clear evidence of an impact on demand so far on our businesses.
"In France we remain cautious on the short term outlook. Looking longer term, we are starting to build solid foundations to enable us to deliver our five year transformation, which is our key growth driver.
"We are making good progress on our strategic milestones for this first year and we are on track. The level of transformation activity will increase significantly."