Kingfisher: Strong FY25/26 Performance Driven by Strategic Progress

Kingfisher plc has published full year results for the year ended 31 January 2026.

FY 25/26 Highlights

• Underlying± LFL sales +1.4% driven by volume & transaction growth. Total sales +1.3%. UK banners driving growth LFL +3.3%
  
  
• Market share gains(2) at B&Q, Screwfix, Brico Dépôt France, Castorama France, and Spain. Poland trading in line with market
  
  
• Standout strategic delivery
  - Trade sales growing +23% ex-Screwfix. Group trade sales penetration increased to 30%
  
  - E-commerce sales increased +20% ex-Screwfix. Group e-commerce penetration 21%. Marketplace GMV grew +58% to £518m
  
  
• Adjusted PBT +6% to £560m, driven by gross margin expansion +80bps and cost discipline, more than offsetting cost pressures. Statutory PBT +23% to £378m
  
  
• Adjusted EPS up +15% to 23.8p supported by share buybacks
  
  
• Free cash flow of £512m underpinned by 5 days inventory improvements
  
  
• Completed £300m share buyback. Announcing full year dividend of 12.40p per share

FY 26/27 Guidance(4)

• Adjusted PBT of £565m-£625m and free cash flow of £450m-£510m
  
  
• Commencement of new £300m share buyback programme

Click here to download the full results publication 

Click here to view results for Kingfisher France

Click here to see Poland and Other International performance

Thierry Garnier, Chief Executive Officer, said:
"We have continued to execute our strategy at pace and delivered good margin and cost discipline. This resulted in significant market share gains, profit growth of +13% when excluding last year's business rates one-off and strong free cash flow.

Our UK banners led the way, with sales +4% at B&Q and +4.5% at Screwfix. This reflects the growth of our digital ecosystem, increased share of wallet from trade customers and the opening of 34 new stores. 

We are making rapid progress against our strategic priorities across our banners. Screwfix already derives c.75% of sales from trade customers and c.60% from e-commerce. Elsewhere, trade sales increased +23%as we expanded ranges, enhanced services, and deepened relationships with trade professionals, while e‑commerce grew +20%, powered by the successful scale‑up of our marketplaces. E-commerce now represents one fifth of total Group sales.

With a mixed consumer environment across our markets, we continue to focus on delivering our strategic priorities, maintaining cost discipline and driving shareholder returns. This positions us well to capitalise on the attractive long-term structural growth opportunities within our markets."

Click here to watch Thierry Garnier discussing the results 

* See page 4 for further details on non-GAAP measures and other terms; **constant currencies;
± Underlying sales growth refers to sales excluding calendar and leap year impact (LFL sales +1.1% +0.3% = underlying LFL of +1.4%) (1) 
Note: All commentary below is in constant currency unless otherwise stated.

Financial highlights

Sales

• +1.4% underlying LFL sales growth
  
  - volume-led and delivered through our progress in strategic growth drivers, successful range reviews and favourable UK weather in the spring 

• LFL sales +3.3% B&Q, +3.2% Screwfix, (2.2)% Castorama France, (2.3)% Brico Dépôt, (1.1)% Poland and +8.8% Iberia
  
  
• Banners across the Group outperformed their markets, while Poland was in-line with the market
  
  
• B&Q and Screwfix were standout performers, driven by trade and e-commerce initiatives, product innovation, transference from the closure of Homebase stores, and strong seasonal sales
  
  
• Total sales +0.2%, were impacted by (0.9)% decline due to space changes, reflecting a (1.6)% impact from the disposal of Romania and a +0.7% contribution from net space growth

Gross margin

• +80 basis points to 38.1%, mainly from Kingfisher's buying and sourcing scale, growth from marketplace and retail media, AI driven promotional effectiveness, improved inventory management and clearance activity, banner mix and FX tailwinds

Pre-tax profit

• Adjusted PBT +6.0% growth to £560m at reported rates. +13% growth when excluding £33m one-off business rates refund benefit in the UK included in the prior year
  
  
• Retail profit growth of +4.4% to £734m, representing a 5.7% profit margin at reported rates (+30bps vs FY24/25)
  
  
• Higher central costs +£18m were mainly driven by bonus and share plans
  
  
• Lower net finance costs of £9m through lower lease interest and higher interest income
  
  
• Statutory PBT of £378m, was up +23.0% (FY 24/25: £307m) benefitting from lower impairment charges than the previous year, and includes £111m of impairments in net store assets and goodwill
  
  
• Adjusted EPS increase of +14.9% to 23.8p, through our profit delivery and ongoing share buyback programme. Statutory basic EPS was up +39.5% YoY to 14.0p

Free cash flow

• £512m driven by earnings growth, receipts of tax settlements relating to prior years and effective working capital management, while increasing capex investment
  
  
• Gross capital expenditure was £388m, up £71m (+22%) through freehold acquisitions at B&Q, investment in technology and in customer facing maintenance in our existing stores
  
  
• Leverage reduced to 1.4x adjusted EBITDA (FY 24/25: 1.6x), reflecting stronger free cash flow, further supported by £97m net one-off cash inflows, primarily comprising a £64m EU state aid tax refund and £33min net proceeds from the sale of Romania

Strategic highlights

Grow our trade business

• Group trade sales now represent 30% of revenue (FY 24/25: 27%), trade sales grew +23% excluding Screwfix (+12% with Screwfix), driven by our expanding trade proposition across banners
  
  
• Dedicated trade zones are now live across all banners and present in 43% of stores (excluding Screwfix).Castorama France successfully rolled out its CastoPro trade proposition across the estate in H1 and has since installed 50 dedicated trade zones in stores. Brico Dépôt France opened its first 2 Pro corners 
  
  
• TradePoint announced its first standalone store opening in 2026 and expanded its Direct-to-Site offer to include products beyond the in‑store range
  
  
• Further investment in trade sales partners with 279 now in role across the Group (FY 24/25: 105)
  
  
• We now have a trade loyalty proposition in all geographies with total membership up +18% YoY
  
  
• Screwfix successfully launched a new in-app loyalty programme and an enhanced Sprint proposition, with delivery now available in as little as 20 minutes covering c.60% of the UK population
  
  
• Poland's new loyalty programme, enhanced with a cash-back feature, has attracted 489,000 sign-ups
  
  
• Our updated ambition is for Group trade sales to reach £5 billion in the medium term

Scale our digital ecosystem

• Group e-commerce sales penetration reached 21% (FY 24/25: 19%) and e-commerce sales grew +20% excluding Screwfix (+11% including Screwfix)
  
  
• Marketplaces are now live across all regions. Group marketplace GMV is up +58% to £518m
  
  
• B&Q now has 3.7m SKUs on its marketplace with GMV up +44% to £445m and a retail profit contribution (5) of £15m
  
  
• B&Q launched 15-minute Click & Collect for 1P orders and completed the rollout of the UK's first marketplace Click & Collect service across 300 stores
  
  
• We have started onboarding cross-border vendors. Our Group-wide onboarding process aims to provide vendors with a single pathway to access all of Kingfisher's marketplaces
  
  
• AI-driven product recommendation and personalisation engines are live in all banners (excluding Iberia)
  
  
• Retail media capabilities are now available across banner apps and websites. In‑store digital media screensare in pilot at Screwfix, B&Q and Castorama France
  
  
• Castorama France led the launch of Core IQ, our data‑monetisation platform offering deep trading and digital performance insights to vendors

Win through our offer, own exclusive brands and services

• OEB accounted for 43% of Group sales (FY 24/25: 44%)
  
  
• Launched second-generation Erbauer tool range, with Erbauer now the number one tools brand sold across the Group
  
  
• Ashmead kitchen range launched across B&Q, Castorama France and Castorama Poland, now our #1 volume driver in kitchen ranges sold
  
  
• Continued expansion of our OEB tool and equipment rental propositions across banners
  
  
• Growing services offering covering design and installation, tool rental and project financing

Grow our banners and formats

• Net store openings of 41 across our portfolio, which contributed +0.7% to total Group sales
  
  
• B&Q opened 10 stores, including successfully converting 8 former Homebase stores within 3 months of acquisition and closed 3 stores
  
  
• Screwfix opened 32 stores, including 13 new ultra-compact City stores and closed 5 stores
  
  
• Castorama France opened its first 2 franchise stores in June 2025, converted from its existing estate
  
  
• Brico Dépôt France opened one store in FY 25/26, transferred from Castorama France in FY 24/25
  
  
• Castorama Poland opened one net store and is trialling standalone Design Points, offering kitchen design services in high‑traffic shopping malls
  
  
• Screwfix France opened five stores in northern France

Guidance (4) for FY 26/27

We expect to deliver:

• Adjusted PBT in the range of approximately £565m-£625m
  
  
• Free cash flow in the range of approximately £450m-£510m

Key Assumptions:

• Space: sales impact of c.+1%, mainly from Screwfix UK & Ireland, B&Q and Castorama Poland·
  
  
• Net finance costs: c.£105m (FY 25/26: £91m)
  
  
• Adjusted effective tax rate: c.26% (FY 25/26: 26%)
  
  
• Capex: c.£400m (FY 25/26: £388m) 
  
  
• £13m non-recurring 2025/26 losses (6)

Share buyback - completion of existing programme and new £300m programme announced 

In line with our capital allocation policy, in March 2025 the Board determined that a further £300m of surplus capital was available to return to shareholders via a share buyback programme. We completed this programme on 5 March 2026.

The Board is pleased to announce the commencement of a further £300m share buyback programme.

Since September 2021 Kingfisher has completed £1.2bn of share buybacks.

Trading review by division

Note: all commentary below is in constant currency.

UK & IRELAND

Market
- The home improvement market was flat on a full year basis, aided by favourable weather in H1 driving strong demand for seasonal products

B&Q
- Total sales +3.9% to £3,971m. LFL +3.3% driven by volume, progress in trade and digital, customer transference from the closure of Homebase stores and strong seasonal performance in Q1

- Core +1.6% led by tools and paint. Big-ticket +6.2% driven by the successful introduction of new kitchen ranges, supported by strong growth in Installations +22%. Seasonal +6.5%, driven by strong performance of outdoor categories in Q1, helped by favourable weather and successful capture of Homebase transference

- Market share gains driven by progress in our strategic initiatives, big ticket innovation, successful capturing of transference from the Homebase store closures and opening of 8 former Homebase stores

- E-commerce sales +21.5%, with penetration of 16.7% (FY 24/25: 14.6%) and strong performance across 1Pand 3P. Marketplace GMV (1) grew +44.3% to £445m with a retail profit contribution (2) of c.£15m. In addition to its 15-minute C&C for 1P orders, B&Q successfully rolled out the UK's first marketplace C&C service for 3P products across 300 stores. We have strengthened store‑to‑home fulfilment capabilities by expanding our Deliveroo partnership to more B&Q stores. B&Q's AI‑powered product recommendation and personalisation engines generated c.10% of e‑commerce sales. Hello B&Q, a new digital virtual AI assistant that provides customers with tailored advice and product recommendations, launched in Q4. B&Q also launched Lens, our visual search technology, in its app, with Lens users nearly twice as likely as website users to convert product views into purchases.

TradePoint
- Sales grew to £935m +5.2%, accounting for 23.5% of B&Q total sales (FY 24/25: 23.3%). TradePoint expanded to 224 B&Q stores, representing 70% of the total estate (FY 24/25: 217). 123 trade sales partners are in role (FY 24/25: 44), supporting strong trade sales performance. We expanded the direct‑to‑site offer, enabling trade customers to access products beyond our in‑store range and improving conversion of inbound enquiries into orders. Our partnership with Speedy Hire provides trade customers with access to heavy machinery and tools in store and via our digital channels. Trade credit solutions are live with up to 60 days of interest-free credit.

- E-commerce at TradePoint saw strong growth +12%, particularly in C&C driving store footfall. App downloads were 3 times higher in the current year, with app sales now accounting for 28% of TradePoint's online sales and stronger sales conversion rates versus the website

- Space growth contributed +0.6%. B&Q rapidly converted 8 acquired Homebase stores early 2025. Its 12 Compact stores continue to show encouraging performance, with growth in new customers and C&C penetration running at c.3x that of the rest of the estate. TradePoint announced its first standalone store to be opened in London in Q1 2026, targeting trade customers working in dense urban areas

Click here for Screwfix results 

UK&I Retail Profit

- Gross margin increased +80bps supported by effective management of product costs, supplier rebates, the margin-accretive impact of B&Q's expanding marketplace and the contribution of retail media income, supported by FX tailwinds

- Operating costs increased +7.3% driven by higher staff costs due to wage inflation, labour flexing to support increased volumes, increased UK employer NI contributions, costs from new store openings, higher variable compensation and the annualisation of last year's £33m one-off business rates refund at B&Q. Cost increases were partially offset by savings achieved through structural cost reductions

- Retail profit increased +2.9% to £575m (FY 24/25: £558m) or +9.4% when excluding last year's one-off business rates refund. Retail profit margin declined (10) bps to 8.5%, primarily due to the annualization of last year's business rates refund at B&Q. Excluding this prior year one-off UK profit margin improved +40bps

Source : Kingfisher plc

Image : Kingfisher plc

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