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(Alliance News) - Kingfisher PLC on Tuesday lifted its payout as the DIY retailer enjoyed a "record" year for earnings, benefiting as the pandemic-induced jump in demand for home improvement has endured.
The FTSE 100 listing owns the B&Q and Screwfix brands in the UK, as well as Castorama in France.
In the 12 months ended January 31, sales rose 6.8% to GBP13.18 billion, from GBP12.34 billion. At constant currency, sales were up 9.7%.
Pretax profit rose by a third to GBP1.01 billion from GBP756 million.
Kingfisher hailed it "a year of record revenue and profits".
Sales topped the GBP11.51 billion achieved in the pre-pandemic financial 2020. Pretax amounted to just GBP103 million that year, though Kingfisher took had taken a GBP441 million hit from exceptional items in financial 2020.
It said its B&Q chain had an "outstanding year", with sales passing GBP4 billion. It was a record year of expansion for Screwfix, with 70 new stores opened in the UK and Ireland, and Screwfix France showing promising early progress.
Turning to shareholder returns, Kingfisher raised its annual payout by 50% to 12.40 pence per share from 8.25p paid out the year before. In addition, it said the final GBP75 million tranche of a GBP300 million buyback will be completed by May.
Chief Executive Officer Thierry Garnier said: "For the year ahead, while the macroeconomic and geopolitical environment is uncertain, you can expect from us continued focus on top line delivery and market share growth, strong execution, effective management of our gross margin, and active and responsive management of our operating costs."
Kingfisher said first quarter like-for-like sales were down 8.1% from the year before, but up 16% from two years earlier.
"We are now over two years into our new strategy and execution is ahead of schedule. With the business in a strong position, we are accelerating our investments for growth - through the launch of our scalable e-commerce marketplace, the expansion of Screwfix in the UK and France, new store openings in Poland, and our plans to increase our trade customer base," CEO Garnier added.
"Looking forward, we are confident that these investments, supported by continued strong execution and the new demand-drivers we are seeing in our industry, will drive faster growth in sales, profit and free cash flow."
Kingfisher said it is "comfortable" with sell-side analyst consensus for the new financial year. Consensus for adjusted pretax profit is GBP769 million, which would represent a 19% fall from GBP949 million in the year just ended.
Adjusted pretax profit had risen by 21% in financial 2022.
Kingfisher shares were 1.6% lower at 286.70p each in London on Tuesday morning.
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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