Home improvement retailer B&Q has reported a growth in sales as overall UK and Ireland revenues rose in the first quarter.
According to the latest Kingfisher, parent company of B&Q, trading update for the three months ended 30 April 2024, total group sales rose 0.3% to £3.3bn.
UK & Ireland sales increased 2.7% to £1.6bn, with B&Q revenues up 0.4% to £983m.
Commenting on B&Q, the group said: “The business saw good LFL sales growth and improved volume trends in its core categories, particularly tools & hardware and building & joinery, partially offsetting a weak sales performance in ‘big-ticket’ categories. Seasonal category sales were positive, although impacted by wet weather in April.
“B&Q’s total e-commerce sales increased by 22.8% YoY, with an overall e-commerce sales penetration of 13.6% (Q1 23/24: 11.4%). This was driven by the further scaling of its marketplace, which reached a participation of 41% in April.”
As for current trading, the second quarter has started in line with the underlying sales trends of Q1, with Group LFL sales -2.5% for the three weeks to 18 May 2024.
Thierry Garnier, Chief Executive Officer, said: “Trading in the first quarter has been in line with our expectations. We have seen continued resilience in our core categories, although ‘big-ticket’ sales have been weak reflecting the broader market as expected. In the UK, we have gained considerable share across our banners. Our trade proposition continues to resonate with customers, driving positive LFL sales at Screwfix and strong LFL sales growth of 8.5% at TradePoint. In France, while slightly improved on Q4, trading reflects the weak overall retail market. And in Poland, we are seeing encouraging sales trends as the consumer environment improves.
“We continue to drive our strategic priorities at pace and remain focused on delivering market share growth. Our e-commerce sales grew by 12.7% and we successfully expanded our marketplace model to France. We delivered further expansion of Screwfix in France, and advanced our data, AI and retail media initiatives. Leveraging our learnings from TradePoint in attracting trade customers in the UK, we are excited to have widened trade loyalty programmes across all our banners.
“We remain focused on driving productivity gains and maintaining tight control of our costs and inventories. In France we are pushing ahead with our plan to improve performance, having successfully completed our structural simplification and transitioned to new leadership at Castorama.
“Looking forward, we confirm the guidance outlined in March for the full year, including our expectations for the overall market in 2024.”
