B&Q expected to reveal profits dip on Tuesday

B&Q owner Kingfisher will reveal the impact of last year's record rainfall on the DIY market as annual figures on Tuesday are expected to show a hefty fall in profits.

Having seen profits surge by a fifth in the previous year, the group's turnaround efforts were hit hard in 2012 after relentless wet weather affected demand for gardening and outdoor maintenance products.

Sliding profits at B&Q contributed to a 17% drop in half-year profits across the wider group to £364 million. Snow and freezing weather in the final quarter meant sales failed to recover, down 6.4% at B&Q in the three months to February 2.

Analysts are expecting underlying full-year pre-tax profits to slip by 11% to £715 million across the group, which also owns tools supplier Screwfix as well as Castorama and Brico Depot in France.

Freddie George, analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, said: "We continue to be concerned that the decline in Kingfisher's full-year earnings is not just down to the one-offs of the extreme summer wet weather last year and the decline in the euro, but is also structural. The company has too much space for a multi-channel society, while its stores are too large, difficult to shop and not aligned to the new trend for convenience."

Source : MSN Money
http://money.uk.msn.com/bandq-expected-to-reveal-profits-dip