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'Stolen the show': Shares leap in B&Q owner Kingfisher after annual profit outlook is hiked. By Chris Burn Published 22nd Sep 2026, 09:11 BST Updated 22nd Sep 2026, 09:11 BST B&Q owner Kingfisher has hiked its annual profit outlook despite flagging half-year sales in the DIY chain as Britons held off from splashing out on bigger purchases. The group increased its guidance for full-year underlying pre-tax profit guidance to between £595 million and £635 million, up from the £565 million to £625 million previously pencilled in. Shares in the firm rose by more than 8.5 per cent in early Tuesday trading following the announcement. Outgoing chief executive Thierry Garnier said: "While the consumer environment remains mixed, our consistent delivery, strategic progress and opportunities ahead give us the confidence to upgrade our guidance." You May Like Mr Garnier announced plans in May to step down after nearly seven years to head up Netherlands-headquartered supermarket group Ahold Delhaize, but is remaining in place during the hunt for his successor. The group said B&Q like-for-like sales in the UK and Ireland dropped 1.8 per cent over its second quarter, with sales of so-called big ticket items plunging 8.1 per cent, driven largely by lower demand for bathroom ranges. But the decline marked an improvement on the 4.1 per cent fall seen in the first quarter across B&Q, as heatwaves sparked a recovery in demand for seasonal items. Its Screwfix business also continued to see strong sales, with a 7.1 per cent jump in the second quarter, helping overall UK and Ireland same store sales rise 1.6 per cent in the second quarter and 0.4 per cent over the first half. Kingfisher - which also has a number of home improvement brands across Europe, such as Brico Depot and Castorama - reported a 9.9 per cent rise in underlying pre-profits to £404 million for the six months to July 31, though this was boosted by a one-off £14 million UK business rates refund. On a statutory basis, pre-tax profits jumped 18.4 per cent to £400 million. Richard Hunter, head of markets at interactive investor, said: "Kingfisher has had a number of false starts over recent times, with generally pedestrian rather than transformational progress, although a profit upgrade forecast has broken through some of the clouds which have tended to overhang the stock. "Increased taxes in both the UK and France are a burden on the group, while big ticket and seasonal sales expose Kingfisher to both cyclical pressure via housing markets as well as unpredictable weather. In addition, the current conflict in Iran has pushed energy costs higher, while the consumer could also retrench, quite apart from the fact that the housing market is yet to show any signs of a sustained recovery. "Perhaps understandably the shares have fallen by 4 per cent so far this year given this difficult economic backdrop, although they have managed a gain of 22 per cent over the last 12 months, as compared to a rise of 16 per cent for the wider FTSE100. Even so, the challenges remain clear, with the price 17 per cent lower than the highs reached during the DIY boom of the pandemic, and are 27 per cent down from the previous peak reached in 2014. "Set against an undemanding valuation, the profit upgrade has stolen the show and the shares have risen sharply at the open as a result. Whether this is sufficient to entice investors back into the fray remains to be seen over coming quarters although the market consensus of the shares as a hold - recently improved from a sell - may well stay in place for the time being."

Kingfisher shares rocket after B&Q owner lifts profit target. Retail Reporter Home improvement group Kingfisher saw its shares rocket after the group lifted its profit target, despite summer heatwaves pushing down sales at B&Q. The FTSE 100 retailer, which also owns Screwfix, said it now expects to make a pre-tax profit of between £595m and £635m, having previously guided between £565m and £625m. Last year, the group posted a £560m profit. Kingfisher's shift towards "trade" customers - builders, plumbers and electricians - has driven this boost in forecasts, the group said. Its shares jumped by more than eight per cent to 332p in early trading. The firm returned a pre-tax profit of £400m in the six months to July, improved by more than 18 per cent from last year. Like-for-like sales across the group edged up by 0.1 per cent. But the group's forecast was dragged down by the performance of B&Q, which suffered a 2.9 per cent drop-off in like-for-like sales, driven by a five per cent decline in the sale of "big ticket" items like kitchens and bathrooms. News updates. Stay ahead with our three daily briefings delivering all the key market moves, top business and political stories, and incisive analysis straight to your inbox. Kingfisher said its bathroom ranges have "underperformed subdued markets," adding that it has launched a "comprehensive" review into these products. The group said sales fell at B&Q because record summer heatwaves drove customers away from shops and towards online shopping. The retailer's market share remains "broadly stable," it added. Consumer environment 'mixed' B&Q recently launched its first trade-only store. Kingfisher said sales in this market remained "resilient," gaining 0.2 per cent to £490m. The group has said it wants to reach £5bn in trade sales across its retailers. Trade customers visit Kingfisher stores more often and spend more than retail customers, the group has found. Sales at Screwfix jumped by 5.6 per cent in the six months to July, owing to a 7.3 per cent uplift in its seasonal ranges. The heatwaves boosted the sale of cooling products and garden seating, Kingfisher said. The group saw a 2.2 per cent uplift in sales in its Polish market, while sales dipped by 2.3 per cent in France. Kingfisher chief executive Thierry Garnier, who is set to leave the business, said the group's shift towards trade customers and e-commerce is "creating new growth opportunities and strong financial discipline supporting performance across the business. "While the consumer environment remains mixed, our consistent delivery, strategic progress and opportunities ahead give us the confidence to upgrade our guidance."

Tech experts tell trade to stop deploying AI on low-value tasks. Travel businesses risk facing a surge in operational costs as AI providers move away from subsidised models toward unit-based pricing, a top industry tech executive has warned. Speaking on an AI panel at Travel Weekly's Future of Travel Conference on September 10, Mohsen Ghasempour - chief AI officer at B&Q and Screwfix parent Kingfisher and non-executive director at Hays Travel - cautioned that the true cost of deploying AI is about to hit home as compute power limitations bite. Ghasempour warned that businesses are deploying generative AI without calculating the underlying unit costs, often referred to as "tokenomics". Every interaction with an AI system is broken down into tokens, which represent the basic units of data processed by a large language model. Providers charge separately for input tokens, such as prompts, retrieved customer data and booking history, as well as output tokens, which include generated responses, itinerary tools, and reasoning steps. Hidden metering for background tasks, such as context caching, conversation memory and automated system routing, adds further variable expenses. Ghasempour noted that tech giants like OpenAI have heavily subsidised provision up to now, but limited server compute power will inevitably force usage prices up. He urged travel firms to avoid deploying AI across low-value tasks, such as generic email summarisation, where the operational cost outweighs any productivity gain. "People are crazy deploying AI everywhere to solve every problem that sometimes doesn't need solving," Ghasempour said. "It is not about the cost of the unit of AI power; it's about the cost of the outcome. If you focus on solving the right problem and calculate the benefit, no matter if the cost of AI goes up and down, you make the right choice." Ghasempour highlighted a project at Kingfisher costing £12 million to run, pointing out that high expense is entirely justified if the delivered commercial return far exceeds the outlay. Deloitte partner Andy Gauld echoed the warnings, advising travel firms to establish clear governance frameworks before experimenting across multiple AI platforms. Gauld warned that without strict guardrails on how staff use AI, travel companies will see costs quickly spiral out of control. Gauld asked delegates how many organisations still use spreadsheets, noting that travel firms should multiply that by a factor of about a billion to understand what AI can do to an organisation in terms of running costs. He stressed that if a business can link the outcome and the cost of delivering something to a value output that far outweighs the expense, the investment makes sense, provided it is monitored closely. Future of Travel Conference 2026: trading update. We caught up with bosses of TUI, easyJet holidays, Barrhead Travel Group and Travel Counsellors to assess the fallout from Nats air traffic issues, how trading is faring, and plans for future growth.