Anglo-French DIY group Kingfisher lifted second-half sales guidance as it reported a surge in interim profits and announced a £300m share buyback.
The B&Q and Castorama owner posted a 70.6% rise in pre-tax profits to £677m for the six months to July 31. Sales rose 20% to £7.1bn. Like-for-like (LFL) sales in the second quarter fell 0.8% due to unseasonal weather in the UK and France. Third quarter LFL sales were down 0.6% to September 18.
Second-half LFL sales expectations were increased to -7% to -3% from -15% to -5% and guided for annual adjusted pre-tax profits of £910m to £950m.
A dividend of 3.8p a share was declared, up 38.2%.
