Kingfisher PLC (LSE:KGF) said first-quarter sales were “significantly ahead of pre-pandemic performance” as it announced plans for a further £300mln share buyback and repeated its profit guidance for the current year.
According to the home improvement company, which owns B&Q, sales in the three months to April 30 2022 were £3.2bn, a like-for-like rise of 16.2% compared to pre-pandemic 2019, although sales were down 5.4% like-for-like compared to the first quarter last year.
Demand in the do-it-yourself (DIY) segment is resilient, the company noted.
London-listed Kingfisher also said it will be returning a further £300mln of surplus cash to shareholders via a share buyback programme, with the first tranche to commence soon.
“While facing very strong comparatives in the prior year, our continued strategic progress has enabled us to retain a significant proportion of the increased sales during the pandemic,” said chief executive Thierry Garnier.
Kingfisher reported "good momentum" into the second quarter with like-for-like sales down 2.5% in the two weeks to 14 May 2022 but up 21.8% compared with three years ago..
Looking forward, the company maintained its profit guidance for the year, forecasting pre-tax profits of roughly £770mln.
That is despite “heightened macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty that has emerged since the start of the year,” it said, adding that it is managing inflation pressures effectively.
The company’s online business grew 164% compared to 2019, and now represents 16% of the company’s total sales, compared to 7% three years ago.
“We are focused on delivering on our strategic objectives and growth initiatives, including the growth of our scalable e-commerce marketplace, the expansion of Screwfix in the UK and France, new store openings in Poland, further increasing our trade customer base,” Garnier added.