Kingfisher Q1 sales plummet

Home improvements retailer Kingfisher Plc announced a drop in same-store sales in the first quarter. Meanwhile trading in its key French and UK markets remains difficult. Last month the company warned waning consumer demand would affect its quarterly reports. It reported a like-for-like sales drop of 5.6 per cent. Retail profits fell 15.6 per cent to GBP125.9 million.

Chief Executive Gerry Murphy said in a statement: "With the key summer season still to come, it is too early to judge the outlook for the full year. However, trading in the first three weeks of the second quarter continues to be challenging in the UK and France."

Speaking about expectations for the year 2005, Finance Director Duncan Tatton-Brown told reporters: "We haven't provided guidance on the year, we're only three months into it and we've got a decent period of seasonal sales to come. We'll be much clearer towards the end of the second quarter."