B&Q owner Kingfisher saw strong profits in the first half of the year, with business in Poland and the UK leading the figures.
The group, who own B&Q and Screwfix in the UK, saw underlying pre-tax profit rise 13.5 percent to £436 million. Adjusted earnings per share were up 10.6 percent to 12.3p, with sales in the UK and Ireland up 3.1 percent.
In a statement, Kingfisher said the first half of the year had shown “good early progress”, and was “on track with first year strategic milestones”.
CEO Véronique Laury commented:
“In the UK, the EU referendum has created uncertainty for the economic outlook, even though there has been no clear evidence of an impact on demand so far on our businesses. In France we remain cautious on the short term outlook.
“Given the expertise and energy of our colleagues we continue to feel confident about the challenges ahead.”
Kingfisher (LON:KGF) shares initially rose on the news, but have since fallen back down. They are currently trading down 1.66 percent to 370.44 (1355GMT).
Miranda Wadham on 20/09/2016