B&Q and Screwfix owner Kingfisher PLC (LSE:KGF) will release a third-quarter update on Thursday, with the retail group having already warned about the impact of the cost-of-living crisis.
September's interim showed profits plunged but remained relatively solid as it came up against an exceptional previous year and sales dipped.
Like-for-like sales since the end of July dropped 0.7% but on a three-year basis were up 15.2%.
Jeffries recently downgraded Kingfisher’s rating to ‘hold’, while UBS cut to a ‘sell’ rating and nothing the chancellor said in the recent Autumn Statement is likely to have lightened the mood.
Susannah Streeter, at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the decrease in sales was due to “Cost-of-living pressures… The big boom in DIY home which played out during the pandemic has been fading… there is likely to be fewer disposable cash around and borrowing may be more difficult for major projects.”
Profit guidance this year is in the range of £730mln-£770mln, but the recent share price weakness points to concern this is under threat.