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* Veronique Laury to succeed Ian Cheshire as CEO by Jan.2015
* Cheshire, CEO since 2008, says it is right time to stepdown
* Posts flat first half pretax profit of 364 mln stg
* Strong Q1 offset by weaker Q2, August trade picked-up
* Shares rise up to 4.6 pct (Adds CEO and analyst comment, share price)
By James Davey
LONDON, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Kingfisher, Europe's No.1 home improvements retailer, revealed the head of its Frencharm would replace Ian Cheshire as chief executive to steer thegroup through a period of major change.
Veronique Laury will become the fifth female CEO ofBritain's top 100 companies. She will take the helm before theend of January 2015, Kingfisher said on Wednesday.
Laury, 49, will oversee the expansion of Screwfix and BricoDépôt into new markets, the restructuring of B&Q and theintegration of newly acquired Mr Bricolage.
She will also lead a five-year IT systems roll-out andcomplete the plan to develop common brands across the AngloFrench group.
"It became clear that there needed to be a five-yearcommitment for the next phase and that, realistically from mypoint of view, 12 years (as CEO) was not going to be part of myplan," Cheshire, CEO since 2008, told reporters.
Laury has worked in the home improvement sector for 26years. She has worked in France, Kingfisher's biggest market,and in Britain. In her 11 years at Kingfisher she has heldseveral roles at both Castorama, B&Q and at group level. Shepreviously worked for French rivals Forestyl and Leroy Merlin.
The succession plan was announced as Kingfisher. No. 3 inthe world behind U.S. groups Lowe's and Home Depot, posted flat first-half profit as a boost from goodweather in the first quarter was followed by a much toughersecond quarter.
Shares in the firm, down a quarter over the last year, roseup to 4.6 percent. They were up 12.4 pence at 319.8 pence at0905 GMT, valuing the business at 7.6 billion pounds.
LEGACY
Tony Shiret, analyst at Espirito Santo Investment Bank, saidCheshire's decision to leave was understandable "in the contextof the re-boot in prospect over the next few years."
But he said Laury's elevation was a surprise and could haveimplications for Kevin O'Byrne, the managing director of B&Q,who was seen by some as the likely next CEO.
Cheshire, 55, said he had not come under any pressure fromthe board to step down. "There's no particular connection toother events," he said, adding Laury was "superbly qualified forthe job."
Cheshire hoped his next business job would be linked withhis interest in sustainability.
During his tenure Kingfisher's sales have grown 23 percent,adjusted pretax profit has doubled and the firm's marketcapitalisation has increased by 3.8 billion pounds or 112percent.
Cheshire also reduced net debt by 1.6 billion pounds,allowing the firm to return capital to shareholders for thefirst time.
Kingfisher made an underlying pretax profit of 364 millionpounds ($586.8 million) in the 26 weeks to Aug. 2, ahead ofanalysts' average forecast of 360 million pounds, according to acompany poll.
The firm experienced a sharp slowdown in its second quarter,particularly in France and Poland.
First half sales rose 0.9 percent to 5.77 billion pounds andwere up 1.8 percent on a like-for-like basis. An interimdividend of 3.15 pence, up 1 percent, is being paid.
"Whilst our French business saw an improvement in August weremain cautious about the economic backdrop," said Cheshire.
The CEO repeated his opposition to Scottish independence,saying a Yes vote in the Sept. 18 referendum would lead tohigher prices for consumers and would make the country lessattractive for investors.($1 = 0.6203 British Pounds) (Reporting by James Davey; editing by Kate Holton and ElaineHardcastle)
