Kingfisher shares (LON: KGF) soared on Tuesday morning after the group revealed a strong second-quarter.
Thanks to a boost in online sales at the B&Q owner, pre-tax profit for the first half of the year grew by 62.4%.
Online sales at the group grew 164% and earnings per share grew 15.1p.
Chief executive, Thierry Garnier, said: “The crisis has prompted more people to rediscover their homes and find pleasure in making them better. It is creating new home improvement needs, as people seek new ways to use space or adjust to working from home.”
“It’s also clear that customers are becoming more comfortable with ordering online. And delivering value to consumers is imperative against a challenging economic backdrop.”
“There remains considerable uncertainty around COVID-19 and our near term priorities have not changed — to provide support to the communities in which we operate, to look after our colleagues as a responsible employer, to serve our customers as a retailer of essential goods, and to protect our business for the long term. We remain proud of, and humbled by, the response of our teams to the current challenges,” said Garnier.
“Looking forward, while the near term outlook is uncertain, the longer term opportunity for Kingfisher is significant. There is a lot more to do, but the new team and new plan is now established in the business and we are committed to returning Kingfisher to growth,” he added.
Kingfisher shares (LON: KGF) surged 6.61% to 278,50 (0821GMT).
