Kingfisher France reports flat LFL sales

Kingfisher PLC has reported on third quarter trading for the thirteen weeks ended 31 October 2015.

A summary of key points can be found below and the full publication is available on our Industry Articles pages. 

FRANCE

- Total sales up 1.5% (+0.1% LFL) reflecting a continuing soft market
- Castorama sales up 0.5% (-0.2% LFL). According to Banque de France data*,
sales for the home improvement market were broadly flat
- Brico Dépôt sales up 2.8% (+0.4% LFL) impacted by the on-going slow house
building market 2
- France gross margins down 30 basis points largely reflecting more price
promotional activity. Cost growth reflects increased store development activity
compared to last year

OTHER INTERNATIONAL

- Total sales up 5.4% (+2.8% LFL) reflecting LFL growth in Poland and Russia
- Sales in Poland were up 3.4% (+3.5% LFL) benefiting mainly from new ranges.
- Gross margins were flat. Cost growth reflects increased store development activity compared to last year 

Véronique Laury, Chief Executive Officer, said: “Q3 trading conditions have followed a similar trend to the first half of the year, reflecting the more encouraging macroeconomic backdrop in the UK offset by a softer market in France. “In the meantime, we continue to make good progress with our ‘ONE’ Kingfisher plan. The unified IT system, a key enabler of this journey, continues to progress well. In addition we have secured a further five agreements on the B&Q stores already planned for closure, taking the total to 31. I am very encouraged by development work on the first wave of the unified ‘core essential’ ranges, which will land in stores from next year. We now look forward to updating you on the detail of our long term strategy in early 2016.”

Source : Kingfisher
http://www.kingfisher.com/