B&Q owner Kingfisher blames rainy weather for dip in sales

B&Q OWNER Kingfisher saw its sales dip in the first quarter to £3.3bn, down 3.3 per cent on a like-for-like basis, as the home improvement company saw performance dampened by grim April weather and ongoing inflation.

Despite this, the retail giant said the results showed “resilience” to the economic climate, and kept its full year guidance unchanged.

Thierry Garnier, chief executive officer, said: “As we move through our key trading season, we are pleased to see that sales in our core and ‘big-ticket’ categories, which make up over 80 per cent of our total sales, are showing continued resilience.”

“The unusually poor spring weather in the UK and France affected our seasonal sales in the quarter, impacting demand for items such as garden and outdoor products.”

It comes after a turbulent start to the year saw profits slump in March to £611m, down 39 per cent on the previous year, with crippling inflation causing