DIY leader Kingfisher company, owner of B&Q and Screwfix, is facing a number of headwinds that have contributed to the sluggish performance of its shares which are no higher than five years ago.
The lockdown DIY boom is over, the housing market remains slow and consumer confidence in the UK and France, where it has a key prescence is low.
Higher wages and input costs mean management continues to focus on costs even as it looks to emphasise building revenues from trade customers as well as individual consumers.
For the first half, analysts are looking for group like-for-like sales growth of 1%, which implies a flat second quarter after a 1.8% rate of like-for-increase in the first three months of the year.
Adjusted pre-tax profit is seen reaching £334 million, flat on the same six-month period last year.
AJ Bell analysts say that based on analysts’ forecasts for an unchanged full-year dividend of 12.4p a share, it seems logical to expect an interim payment matching last year’s 3.8p.
JD Sports posts interims on Wednesday and shares in the athleisure retailer still trade no higher than they did in 2022.
Worries about wider trends in consumer spending, not helped by another profit warning from Lululemon Athletica, and the impact of the Trump tariffs remain an issue.
JD Sports announced two profit warnings for the year to January 2025 and offered cautious guidance alongside May’s full-year results. Improved like-for-like sales momentum in the US and Asia also offered encouragement, although renewed weakness in the UK and Europe was a concern.
DIARY
Monday 22 September
- Full-year results from Wilmington
- Chinese one-and five-year interest rates
- Innovation Week starts
Tuesday 23 September
- Full-year results from Smiths Group
- First-half results from Co-perative Group, Raspberry Pi, Henry Boot, Kingfisher
- Flash purchasing managers’ indices (PMIs) for Japan, Asia, Europe, the UK and USA
Wednesday 24 September
- Full-year results from Avingtrans and Redcentric
- First-half results from JD Sports, Saga, EnQuest, Pinewood Technologies
Thursday 25 September
- Full-year results from HSS Hire and DFS Furniture
- First-half results from STV,
- Trading update from Halma
- Iomart holds AGM
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