Kingfisher Share Price (KGF)

now onward...or topping out?

big trade...

so far, so good..

B&Q DIY chain owner Kingfisher Group (KGF) has had something of an up and down year (perfectly illustrated by the chart), with the last real clues as to the group fortunes at an investor and analyst event at the end of November last year. Previously the group reported a 3.3% fall in half-year sales and a 15.5% fall in adjusted pre-tax profits to £371m, although this had largely been factored into the price by the time of the announcement. Shares are roughly midway between the year high and low, so provided there is no evidence of any deterioration in trading, Kingfisher could even see its shares bid higher in anticipation of a growing domestic recovery.

todays budget good for the housebuilders, it should also benefit the associated trades and their suppliers ;-)

Positive Points: Management expects full year adjusted profit before tax to be in line with the consensus of analyst expectations. A strong sales performance (like-for-like sales up 12.1% to £102 million) was recorded in Russia which benefitted from new store openings. In China, B&Q sales grew by 3.9% (+5.0% LFL) to £110 million driven by continued additional promotional discount activity and an improving property market. Kingfisher has a successful track record with dominant strategic positions in the UK and France. Kingfisher has tried to offset weak demand in many markets with a drive to improve profitability by buying more goods centrally, and directly, from cheaper manufacturing centres such as China.