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(Alliance News) - Kingfisher PLC on Monday resumed its final payout for its recently ended financial year, as profit jumped on high demand for home improvement products.
Shares in Kingfisher were up 3.2% at 322.60 pence on Monday morning in London, the best performer in the FTSE 100.
For the year to the ended January 31, pretax profit rose sixfold to GBP756 million from GBP103 million the year before, as the prior year suffered one-off costs of GBP441 million, relating to store closures and impairments from revision to the future projection from several stores across the group's portfolio.
There were also impairments from Russia for the 2020 financial year, reflecting underlying store asset write-downs, as well as on the classification of the business as held for sales.
On an adjusted basis, the B&Q and Screwfix operator's pretax profit rose 44% to GBP786 million from GBP544 million the year before, as revenue grew 7.2% year-on-year on a reported basis to GBP12.34 billion from GBP11.51 billion. On a constant currency basis, revenue was up 6.8%.
Kingfisher reported growth in all key markets, with UK & Ireland sales rising by 12% to GBP5.74 billion on strong trading from the second quarter onwards, recovering from store closures in the first quarter due to the first Covid-19 induced lockdown.
Meanwhile, revenue from France grew 5.2% year-on-year, driven by higher demand following strong trading in the second quarter and onwards from both Castorama and Brico Depot.
Kingfisher declared a final dividend of 5.50 pence per share after withdrawing its payout for the 2020 financial year, bringing the total payout to 8.25p, more than doubled from 3.33p the prior year.
Looking ahead, Kingfisher said for the first quarter of its current financial year to date, group like-for-like sales grew 24%, reflecting strong demand from the UK and France, however the group remains mindful of continued Covid-19 related uncertainty in Continental Europe.
As a result, for the first half of the current financial year, Kingfisher expects low double-digit growth in like-for-like sales, while the second half is affected by strong year-on-year comparatives.
"The dedication and commitment of our 80,000 colleagues has enabled us to make substantial strategic, operational and financial progress this year. Kingfisher is coming out of the Covid crisis as a stronger business, with an improved competitive position in all key markets, strong new customer growth and a step change in digital adoption. I would like to express my personal thanks to all our teams for their incredible efforts in the most testing of circumstances," said Chief Executive Officer Thierry Garnier.
"Current trading remains positive and, while visibility is limited for the year as a whole, we are confident of continued outperformance of our wider markets. The Covid crisis has established new longer-term trends that are clearly supportive for our industry - including more working from home, the renewed importance of the home as a 'hub', and the development of a new generation of DIY'ers - and we expect these to endure. With our strategic progress, we are well positioned to capitalise on these new and positive market trends," Garnier added.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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