B&Q owner Kingfisher felt further pain from the depressed home improvement market today as it revealed a 9 per cent slide in like-for-like sales in the United Kingdom.
The company also warned promotional activity left its mark on margins, although the disappointment in the United Kingdom was offset by good progress in overseas markets, where Kingfisher generates more than half its business.
Overall, sales for the 13 weeks to January 28th were ahead 5.6 per cent to £1.86 billion (€2.71 billion) - down by 0.5 per cent on a like-for-like basis.
Kingfisher said it remained on course to meet profits expectations for the full financial year.