KINGFISHER PLC LONDON (Reuters) - Kingfisher (>> Kingfisher plc), Europe's largest home improvements retailer, posted improved growth in both Britain and France in its latest 10-week sales on Thursday, with the outcome in the UK and Ireland boosted by its Screwfix division.
Sales at stores open more than a year rose 16.7 percent in the 10 weeks to July 11 at Screwfix, which supplies tools, plumbing and electrical equipment to Britain's tradesmen and home improvement enthusiasts.
Kingfisher's B&Q chain aimed at the mass-market reported same-store sales up 3.4 percent over the same period.
In March new Chief Executive Veronique Laury detailed plans to reshape Kingfisher, including closing 60 B&Q stores, cutting the number of product lines, developing unified garden and bathroom businesses and starting a revitalisation programme for big stores across Europe.
Screwfix trades from 412 stores and Kingfisher believes the business has scope for over 500 outlets.
Kingfisher's group same-store sales rose 3.5 percent in the 10-week period, helped by soft comparative numbers in the same period last year and better weather in June and July, which boosted demand for products such as fans, sprinklers and bedding plants.
Shares in Kingfisher, the world's No. 3 do-it-yourself (DIY) player behind U.S. companies Lowe's (>> Lowe's Companies, Inc.) and Home Depot (>> Home Depot Inc), were up 2.2 percent at 375 pence at 0717 GMT, valuing the business at 8.7 billion pounds.
The stock has risen 29 percent over the last nine months.
Same-store sales were up 5.5 percent in the UK and Ireland and up 1.3 percent in France.
For the full second quarter, which includes an additional three weeks of trading, analysts are forecasting a rise of 4.1 percent for the UK and Ireland and growth of 0.3 percent in France, according to forecasts compiled by Kingfisher.
In the first quarter it recorded a rise of 1.6 percent in the UK and Ireland and a fall of 1.2 percent in France.
(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Jason Neely)
