The owner of B&Q and Screwfix said sales have edged higher in the UK and Ireland in recent months, despite uncertainty around the government’s Budget statement holding back stronger consumer spending.
Kingfisher reported total group sales of £3.2bn between August and October, 1.1% lower than the same period a year ago, when compared like-for-like. In the UK and Ireland, sales edged up 0.4% to £1.6bn.
The DIY giant’s boss, Thierry Garnier, said a stronger performance in August and September was “offset by the impact of increased consumer uncertainty in the UK and France in October, related to government budgets in both countries”.
The firm said results at B&Q were in line with the market while “strong” gains were achieved at Somerset-headquartered Screwfix.
Mr Garnier pointed to “earlier signs of improvement” for so-called big ticket purchases, which have been weaker this year.
“Overall trading in the third quarter was resilient,” he said. “We continued to see improved volume trends in our core categories, supported by repairs, maintenance and existing home renovation.”
He added: “Looking towards next year, recent political and macroeconomic developments have layered incremental uncertainty onto the near-term outlook in our markets. And so we continue to focus our energy on what we can control – delivering further market share gains through our key strategic priorities, and managing our retail prices, costs and cash effectively.
“As a group, we are strongly positioned to benefit from the inflection to come within home improvement.”