B&Q owner Kingfisher (LON:KGF) reported a £50 million loss on Thursday, after consumers turned their back on the DIY sector in the second quarter of the year.
B&Q’s seasonal performance fell 11 percent after poor weather impacted sales, with sales at the home improvement chain down 8 percent in the second quarter.
Problems at its French business continued, with “continued weaker” performance in the country leading to a 3.8 percent sales plunge to £1.2 billion.
Véronique Laury, Chief Executive Officer, admitted that” B&Q’s performance was impacted by seasonal swings across Q1 and Q2″, adding that the group had “continued to experience some disruption across the businesses, although on an improving trend.”
“Availability of this year’s unified and unique product is now approaching normal levels. We continue to adapt new processes as our transformation progresses, which will support the significant amount of change planned for H2”, Laury said.
“Having been very aware that this year would be challenging given the step up in transformation activity, we already have self-help plans in place to support our overall Year 2 performance, though we remain cautious on the H2 outlook for the UK and France as previously guided. We remain on track to deliver our Year 2 strategic milestones, and look forward to updating you on our wider progress in more detail at our H1 results.”
Other firms in the sector also experienced a downturn during the quarter, Homebase owner Bunnings reporting a £54 million annual loss in its first full year of ownership of the DIY chain.
Shares in Kingfisher are currently trading down 5.79 percent on the news at 291.20 (1019GMT).
