Kingfisher FY profits rise slightly; cautious on France outlook

Full year adjusted pre-tax profits at home improvement retailer Kingfisher rose 0.3% to £686m as revenues fell 2.6% to £10.3bn.

Retail profit up was up 7.4% to £746m in constant currencies.

"In the short term, the fundamentals of the UK economic backdrop remain positive, although we remain cautious on the outlook for France. The outlook for the wider global economy remains uncertain, and the impact of the outcome of the UK EU referendum is unknown," said chief financial officer Karen Witts.

The owner of B&Q and Screwfix is preparing to face increased competition from Homebase following its sale by Home Retail Group to Australian business Wesfarmers.

Véronique Laury, Chief Executive Officer, said: "This has been a very productive and important year. We have delivered a good 'business as usual' result with both sales and profit growth in constant currencies, driven by our performance in Poland and the UK, driven largely by Screwfix, and a stable performance in France."