Kingfisher plc (LON:KGF) is to keep its stores in the UK open, even though it has temporarily shut its stores in France and Spain.
The B&Q, Screwfix and Castorama owner said UK stores will supply electricity, heating, plumbing and other home essentials, though there will be restrictions on the number of shoppers and protective measures at checkouts.
Online home delivery and click & collect capacity are being beefed up including via a new 'drive-through' option.
Stores in Ireland, Poland, Romania, Portugal and Russia will also remain open, with similar measures to the UK.
Trading in the past week has been hit by the closure of France’s 221 stores, but is holding up in the UK, the FTSE 100 company said.
Group like-for-like sales were 7.6% higher in the six weeks to 14 March.
In the third week of March, UK sales were positive but France was badly hit and Poland was also weak although online sales grew significantly.
Kingfisher added its suppliers in China have all nearly re-opened with less than a four-week delay on 85% of orders compared to the original schedule.
How goods can be transported across Europe is an issue, it added.
Because of the uncertainty, the final dividend for the year to January has been scrapped while final results that were supposed to be released tomorrow have been postponed following the request from the FCA.
The regulator has asked all listed companies to delay results announcements for two weeks.