Kingfisher Raises Guidance; Q2 Performance 'Ahead Of Expectations'

Kingfisher plc (‘Company’, ‘Group’ or ‘Kingfisher’) is today providing an update on Q2 trading to date and is raising its guidance for H1 21/22 LFL sales and adjusted pre-tax profit.

Key points 

• Continuing to make significant progress against ‘Powered by Kingfisher’ strategic priorities, driving share growth in key markets

• High levels of demand from both new and existing customers continue, across retail and trade

• Q2 21/22 LFL(1) sales (to 10 July) (2) down 1.3%, with corresponding 2-year LFL (3) up 22.3%
     - Strong 2-year growth across all banners
     - Transaction volume and average basket value both up on a 2-year basis

• E-commerce sales growth continues to be strong, with 2-year growth in Q2 21/22 (to 10 July) of 188%

• Raising H1 21/22 LFL sales outlook to around 22% (previous guidance ‘mid-to-high teens’)

• Anticipate H1 adjusted pre-tax profit to be ahead of our previous expectations, in the range of c.£645 million to £660 million (previous guidance ‘c.£580 million to £600 million’)

Thierry Garnier, Chief Executive Officer, said:

“Kingfisher’s performance in the second quarter to date has been ahead of expectations, with positive progress against our strategic priorities continuing to drive share growth in our key markets.

“With very strong comparatives from the previous year, we are pleased to see growth being delivered on a 2-year basis across all categories and channels, with e-commerce sales in particular nearly three times higher than the same period in 2019.

“I am grateful to all our colleagues for their continuous hard work and customer service, enabling our banners to trade safely and to remain well stocked despite the industry-wide supply chain challenges.

“With the strong performance in the quarter to date, we now anticipate first half sales and adjusted pre-tax profit to be ahead of our previous expectations. We continue to be encouraged by the supportive long-term trends for our industry and are confident of continued outperformance of our wider markets. We look forward to providing a detailed update on the ‘Powered by Kingfisher’ strategy, our performance and full year outlook at our interim results on 21 September.”

Footnotes
(1) LFL (like-for-like) sales growth represents the constant currency, year on year sales growth for stores that have been open for more than one year. Stores temporarily closed or otherwise impacted due to COVID are also included.

(2) ‘Q2 21/22 LFL sales (to 10 July)’ and ‘Q2 21/22 (to date)’ represent the period from 2 May 2021 to 10 July 2021 (compared against the equivalent period in the prior year, from 3 May 2020 to 11 July 2020). The corresponding 2-year LFL represents the period from 2 May 2021 to 10 July 2021 compared against the equivalent period in FY 19/20 (i.e. from 5 May 2019 to 13 July 2019). The figures are provisional and excludes certain non-cash accounting adjustments relating to revenue recognition.

(3) 2-year LFL is calculated by compounding current and prior year LFL growth. For example, current year LFL growth of 10% and prior year LFL growth of 5% results in 2-year LFL growth of 15.5%. Prior year LFL growth excludes Russia for the purposes of the Group and Other International 2-year LFL calculations.

(4) Brico Dépôt Spain and Portugal.

(5) Group LFL includes e-commerce sales, and excludes Koçtaş (Kingfisher’s 50% JV in Turkey).

(6) E-commerce sales are total sales derived from online transactions, including click & collect. This includes sales transacted on any device, however not sales through a call centre. E-commerce sales change is in constant currency and covers the total Group, excluding Russia. 

Our next scheduled announcement will be our results for the six months ended 31 July 2021, on Tuesday 21 September 2021.

Source : Kingfisher PLC

Image : Alan Morris / iStock (1281594226)

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