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Kingfisher feeling blue across La Manche

Last updated: 06:00 19 Sep 2018 BST, First published: 11:00 18 Sep 2018 BST

Kingfisher

The recent hot weather has done wonders for supermarket sales but what of the UK’s biggest do-it-yourself (DIY) retailer Kingfisher PLC (LON:KGF)?

The burger-burning fraternity will have been out in force over the summer, which normally bodes well for B&Q’s sales of BBQ kits but it has been the group’s French business that has been under pressure for a while now, dragging on the decent performance of its Screwfix and B&Q divisions in the UK.

Investors will be keen to receive more details on the measures management is putting in place across the Channel to try to support Castorama, which is getting a new boss in a couple of weeks.

A challenging DIY retail market has forced the group to discount some of its products in a bid to get people through the doors, meaning margins have come under pressure of late.

Chief executive Véronique Laury is halfway through her five-year turnaround plan, with little to show for it as yet. Investors will be hoping to see some improvement in France and continued steady trading in the UK in Wednesday’s second-quarter update.

Sticking with the retail scene, the UK headline inflation rate is expected to have eased back to 2.4% in August from 2.5% in July, while the core annual inflation rate is tipped to decelerate to 1.8% from July’s 2.0%; the core inflation rate strips out food and energy prices.

Significant announcements expected  on Wednesday:

Finals: Kingfisher PLC (LON:KGF), Accesso Technology Group PLC (LON:ACSO), Alliance Pharma plc (LON:APH), Central Asia Metals PLC (LON:CAML), Cello Health plc (LON:CLL), Elektron Technology PLC (LON:EKT), Greencoat Renewables PLC (LON:GRP), Quixant PLC (LON:QXT), RA International Group PLC (LON:RAI), Randall & Quilter Investments Holdings PLC (LON:RQIH), Mission Marketing Group PLC (LON:TMMG), Yu Group PLC (LON:YU.)

Interims: CentralNic PLC (LON:CNIC), Ergomed Plc (LON:ERGO), InnovaDerma PLC (LON:IDP)

Trading updates: Babcock International Group PLC (LON:BAB), Stagecoach Group PLC (LON:SGC)

Economic data: UK CPI, PPI, HPI inflation; US housing starts

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