Results round-up

Sales slowed only slightly in the second quarter for Kingfisher as B&Q and Screwfix grew strongly in the UK and Ireland to offset a decline in France.

Chief executive Véronique Laury called the group like-for-like (LFL) sales rise of 3.0% a "solid" sales performance, after the 3.6% gain in the first quarter, adding that management "remain cautious on the short-term outlook" with increased uncertainty from the Brexit vote although there had been no clear evidence of any impact on demand so far.

Total UK and Irish sale of £1.36bn in the three months to 31 July were up 5.1% at the reported level and 5% at constant currencies, while LFL sales at constant currencies accelerated to 7.2%, up from 6.2% in the first quarter.

B&Q gained 5.6% at the LFL level, better than its 3.6% in the first quarter, while Screwfix surged 13.3% in the second quarter, down from 16.2% in the first.

The effect of faster growth at the trade-focused outlets on product mix was one of the reasons given why UK gross margins are expected to slide 100 basis points for the first half of the year.

Russian steel miner Evraz’s half-year revenue fell due to weak steel prices and low demand but remains “cautiously optimistic” for the second half of the year.

For the six months ended 30 June, revenue decreased by 27.6% to $3,543m, compared to the same period last year. Evraz said it was due to lower revenue from sales of steel products, which declined by 29.5% year-on-year as the average sales price fell 23.7%. Steel revenues account for 60.8% of the company's total revenue.

The London headquartered miner said revenue from coal was largely unchanged year-on-year as increased volumes partly offset lower sales prices.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was down 38.1% year-on-year to $577m, due to a lagged effect of weak steel pricing. EBITDA margin reached 16.3%, compared to 18.8% in 2015. EBITDA for coal increased 25.6% as the margin reached 39.7% due to the rouble devaluation and effects of cost-cutting initiatives.

Russian steel consumption fell by 2% to 16.9m tonnes in the period, due to reduced demand. As domestic consumption waned, Russian export volumes increased slightly to 14.5m tonnes, due to the weak Rouble.