LONDON, May 29 (Reuters) - Kingfisher, Europe's No.1 home improvement retailer, posted a 20 percent surge in firstquarter retail profit and said it would pay a 100 million pound($167 million) special dividend as part of its new plans forextra shareholder rewards.
The group, which runs market leader B&Q in Britain andtrades as Castorama and Brico Depot in France, said on Thursdayretail profit for the 13 weeks to May 3 rose to 142 millionpounds, just below a company compiled consensus forecast of 145million pounds.
Boosted by much better weather than in the same period ayear ago, group sales at stores open over a year rose 6.1percent, including growth of 1.6 rise in France and 10.1 percentin the UK and Ireland. ($1 = 0.5986 British Pounds) (Reporting by Neil Maidment; editing by Kate Holton)
Kingfisher (KGF)
