Kingfisher and Wickes set to reveal fall in profits

B&Q owner Kingfisher and rival Wickes are set to reveal falls in profits over the past year as the home improvement firms were knocked back by surging costs.

Kingfisher, which runs B&Q and Screwfix, has previously indicated its sales and profits have weakened over the past year, as it also saw DIY demand from lockeddown customers start to soften.

The firm is expected to reveal pre-tax profits between £730 million and £760 million for the year to January when it updates investors on Tuesday.

It comes after Kingfisher cut its previous estimate of £770 million in its latest update in November.

Kingfisher highlighted a marginal rise in sales over the quarter to October and hailed a “good start” to the final quarter.

However, the group is still likely to deliver a decline in like-for-like sales after the start of the year failed to keep up with pandemicboosted demand.

Analysts have predicted a 2.1% like-for-like fall in sales, with a roughly flat performance over the second half of the year.

Analysts have predicted another decline in like-for-like sales and profits for the new financial year so shareholders would welcome an improved outlook and growth strategy tomorrow (Tuesday).

Meanwhile, rival Wickes has seen a more positive trajectory, which has helped shares improve by around a fifth since October.

In January, the business revealed that like-for-like sales grew by 5.2% over the fourth quarter of 2022 as households rushed to buy energy-saving products to help cut soaring power bills over the winter months.

Nevertheless, it is still coming under pressure from continued cost pressures and predicted its gas and electricity bill will rise by another £10 million in 2023, despite wholesale energy prices cooling.