Kingfisher Shares Surge: Upgrades Full-Year Profit Guidance on Strategic Momentum

Kingfisher PLC (LON: KGF), the parent company of B&Q and Screwfix, announced an upgrade to its full-year adjusted profit before tax guidance, sending its shares higher.

The revised guidance now stands at approximately £540 million to £570 million, a significant increase from the previous upper-end estimate of £480 million to £540 million. This upgrade reflects the company's strong Q3 performance and confidence in its strategic initiatives.

Kingfisher shares jumped over 6% at the open.

The company's Q3 trading update revealed underlying like-for-like (LFL) sales growth of 0.9%, with year-to-date (YTD) growth at 1.6%. This growth was primarily driven by increased volume and transaction numbers.

A particularly strong showing in the UK, fueled by market share gains, contributed to a LFL sales increase of 3.0%. In contrast, France and Poland experienced subdued consumer demand, though Kingfisher's banner performance aligned with market trends in those regions.

Kingfisher's strategic initiatives are demonstrating tangible results. Trade sales surged by 12.1%, increasing trade penetration to 31.3%, a 3.6 percentage point year-over-year increase. E-commerce also saw robust growth, with sales up 10.2% and penetration reaching 20.7%, a 1.9 percentage point increase year-over-year. The growth in core and ‘big-ticket' items further underscores the success of the company's strategic focus.

The company is actively returning capital to shareholders. Kingfisher has already purchased £175 million worth of shares and remains on track to complete its current £300 million share buyback program by March 2026. The company also maintains its free cash flow target guidance of approximately £480 million to £520 million, reflecting the planned acquisition of a B&Q freehold property in Q4.

Thierry Garnier, Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We delivered another quarter of high-quality, volume-led growth, driven by our Group strategic initiatives in e-commerce and trade and by our performance in core and ‘big-ticket' categories. B&Q, Screwfix and Iberia continue to strongly outperform their markets. Our performance to date and progress in our strategic initiatives give us the confidence to upgrade our full-year profit guidance.”

Garnier added, “As we look ahead, we are committed to driving shareholder returns through the consistent execution of our strategic priorities and by being disciplined on margin and costs.”

The company's performance across its banners varied. B&Q's sales increased by 3.8%, while Screwfix saw a 4.4% rise. In France, Castorama experienced a 3.9% sales decline, while Brico Dépôt's sales fell by 1.1%. Poland saw a 1.2% decrease in sales, while Iberia delivered strong growth of 9.8%. These figures highlight the diverse performance across Kingfisher's geographic segments.

While the overall outlook is positive, Kingfisher acknowledges softening market conditions in the UK and Poland during Q3. The company also noted that market conditions in the UK & Ireland, France and Poland are tracking between the lower end and middle of the range of its scenarios for the full year.

The market outlook scenarios suggest a flat to low single digit % growth for UK & Ireland, a low to mid single digit % decline to flat for France, and a low single digit % decline to low single digit % growth for Poland.