Home improvement retailer B&Q has reported flat full year sales as overall UK and Ireland revenues rose.
According to the latest Kingfisher, parent company of B&Q, full year results ended 31 January 2025, total group sales were down 1.5% to £12.7bn from £12.9bn against the prior period.
Gross margin increased from 36.8% to 37.3%, while adjusted pre-tax profit resulted at £528m, down 7% from £568m year-on-year. UK & Ireland retail profit increased 0.6% to £558m from £555m.
UK & Ireland sales increased 1.1% to £6.4bn, with B&Q revenues flat at £3.8bn.
“In the UK & Ireland, core category sales remained positive in Q4, supported by repair, maintenance and existing home renovation activity,” the group said. “TradePoint was the standout performer (LFL +6.7%) in the quarter. ‘Big-ticket’ categories delivered sales growth YoY in Q4, supported by successful kitchen and bathroom range launches and campaigns at B&Q.
“Seasonal LFL sales improved slightly from Q3 despite mixed weather in Q4. Screwfix sales growth was lower in Q4 compared to Q3, driven by the impact of milder weather in November on electrical, plumbing, heating & cooling (EPHC) sales. B&Q, TradePoint and Screwfix all grew faster than their respective markets in Q4, as measured by the British Retail Consortium (BRC), Barclays and GfK.”
During the year, B&Q opened two stores, including one retail park format and one ‘B&Q Local’ high street store. The business closed one big-box and two medium-box stores,
In Q4, B&Q announced the acquisition of eight former Homebase leasehold stores (five in the UK and three in Ireland). The acquisition of all the stores has completed, with conversion into B&Q stores taking place in the next few months.
Furthermore, the group is continuing to test and rollout smaller compact stores. “We currently have 25 active tests across the UK, France and Poland, with three additional tests added in FY 24/25,” the group added.
“The compact stores are located in high streets, dense urban areas, retail parks and industrial estates. High street tests (300-1,000 sqm) – continue to deliver encouraging learnings and results with 15 high street stores operating in the UK, France and Poland. B&Q opened one ‘B&Q Local’ store in August for a total of 11 now in operation.
“B&Q continues to see high C&C participation (three to four times higher than non-compact stores) together with new customer growth.”
Looking ahead, the group expects pre-tax profit for the next financial year to be around £480m to £540m.
Thierry Garnier, Chief Executive Officer, commented on the results: “For the first time in over six years, we grew our market share in all key regions. We delivered profit and free cash flow in line with or ahead of our initial guidance, with strong delivery against our strategic objectives. Our e-commerce marketplaces are now live in the UK & Ireland, France, Poland and Iberia, and growing strongly with total GMV up 62%.
“Our trade sales penetration, excluding Screwfix, reached 17.9% in January, up 4.9%pts, with rapid progress being made in France and Poland. Our restructuring of Castorama France is progressing and we have accelerated our plans. As expected, the wider market backdrop was a headwind, though we maintained our laser focus on managing costs and cash, removing £120m of structural costs and lowering same-store inventory by over £100m.
“Looking to the year ahead, the recent government budgets in the UK and France have raised costs for retailers and impacted consumer sentiment in the near term. With this in mind, we remain focused on what is in our control – progressing our strategic objectives at pace to deliver further market share gains, and continuing to manage gross margin, costs and cash effectively. Kingfisher is in its best operational shape for years, and we remain confident about the growth opportunities in our business.”
