Kingfisher to meet profit forecasts though sales worsen

LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Kingfisher, Europe'sbiggest home improvements retailer, said it would meet yearprofit forecasts even though underlying sales declines worsenedin its fourth quarter.

The group, which runs market leader B&Q in Britain andtrades as Castorama and Brico Depot in France and elsewhere,said on Thursday sales at stores open over a year fell 3.4percent in the 14 weeks to Feb. 2.

That compares to a third quarter fall of 2.8 percent.

In Britain like-for-like sales at B&Q fell 6.4 percent -worse than analysts' consensus forecast of down 4.5 percent.

In France, Kingfisher's biggest market, like-for-like salesfell 0.4 percent at Castorama and 4.6 percent at Brico Depot.Analysts' consensus was for declines of 1.6 percent and 5.3percent respectively.