By Mark Potter
The firm, which runs market leaders B&Q in Britain and Castorama in France, said on Thursday it also planned to cut capital spending, working capital and reduce costs in the UK as it seeks to counter a consumer downturn in most of its markets.
Profit before tax and one-off items rose 3.1 percent to 368 million pounds in the year ended January, close to analysts' average forecast of 364 million in a company poll.
Sales from continuing operations rose 10.8 percent to 10.03 billion pounds, but were down 4.1 percent on a same-store basis.
B&Q China made a loss of 52 million pound, hit by a property slump, and Kingfisher said it would respond by shutting 22 and downsizing 17 of its 63 stores there.
It will revamp the rest as part of a plan that will lead to an exceptional accounting charge of 107 million pounds.
There will also be a non-cash one-off impairment charge of 160 million pounds, 124 million of which relates to writing off goodwill at the Chinese business.
Kingfisher, which runs over 800 stores in eight countries, has been hit hard by the global economic downturn.
However, its shares have outperformed the DJ Stoxx European retail index by almost 30 percent over the past year, helped by optimism over Chief Executive Ian Cheshire's turnaround plan -- a mix of cost savings and expansion in stronger markets like Poland and Turkey.
"Although we anticipate the next year to continue to be very challenging, we will remain focussed on providing the best choice and value for our customers whilst managing our margins, costs and working capital tightly," Cheshire said in a statement.
Kingfisher said it would cut capital spending to 300 million pounds in 2009-10 from 390 million in 2008-9. It will also aim to reduce working capital by a further 50 million pounds and reduce costs in the UK by 1 percent year-on-year.
Kingfisher shares closed at 142.3 pence on Wednesday, valuing the business at about 3.4 billion pounds.
(Editing by Kate Holton and Simon Jessop)
LONDON (Reuters)
The firm, which runs market leaders B&Q in Britain and Castorama in France, said on Thursday it also planned to cut capital spending, working capital and reduce costs in the UK as it seeks to counter a consumer downturn in most of its markets.
Profit before tax and one-off items rose 3.1 percent to 368 million pounds in the year ended January, close to analysts' average forecast of 364 million in a company poll.
Sales from continuing operations rose 10.8 percent to 10.03 billion pounds, but were down 4.1 percent on a same-store basis.
B&Q China made a loss of 52 million pound, hit by a property slump, and Kingfisher said it would respond by shutting 22 and downsizing 17 of its 63 stores there.
It will revamp the rest as part of a plan that will lead to an exceptional accounting charge of 107 million pounds.
There will also be a non-cash one-off impairment charge of 160 million pounds, 124 million of which relates to writing off goodwill at the Chinese business.
Kingfisher, which runs over 800 stores in eight countries, has been hit hard by the global economic downturn.
However, its shares have outperformed the DJ Stoxx European retail index by almost 30 percent over the past year, helped by optimism over Chief Executive Ian Cheshire's turnaround plan -- a mix of cost savings and expansion in stronger markets like Poland and Turkey.
"Although we anticipate the next year to continue to be very challenging, we will remain focussed on providing the best choice and value for our customers whilst managing our margins, costs and working capital tightly," Cheshire said in a statement.
Kingfisher said it would cut capital spending to 300 million pounds in 2009-10 from 390 million in 2008-9. It will also aim to reduce working capital by a further 50 million pounds and reduce costs in the UK by 1 percent year-on-year.
Kingfisher shares closed at 142.3 pence on Wednesday, valuing the business at about 3.4 billion pounds.
(Editing by Kate Holton and Simon Jessop)
LONDON (Reuters)
