Kingfisher plc

I started thinking, what else could I do? And applied for a whole range of things.

And I then got a call Would I be interested in joining Kingfisher PLC as a group accountant? They were looking for someone who could speak French.

And at that point, I'd had four years where I hadn't used my French, left uni, having thought, okay, French is going to be a big part of my life.

And so jumped at that opportunity, thought I just got to the stage where I was like, I'm going into French.

It's just you've got to find a way of getting there.

So I moved to Sky, and I moved primarily to get more front office exposure.

So the front office team at Kingfisher were pretty well set.

It didn't really feel like there was going to be an opportunity to move across, and I wanted...

The government is warning this week about a big brand 16 amp plug-in connector set that it says can lead to electric shock and fire.

That's because the line and neutral connection markings are reversed on both the male and female site connectors by dial and now the kit is being recalled by its owner Screwfix and B&Q parent Kingfisher.

The products could be wired incorrectly presenting a risk of electric shock, overheating and fire.

Trading standards inspectors say that SET does not meet the requirements of the electrical equipment safety regulations.

is

the only person what about what about the other one it was a big one we had done kingfisher because uh graham's asking about kingfisher the diy their own interests obviously in france castorama they've got the big b and q they've got screw fix that's doing well in the uk i think got some polish interests as well um they're another sort of like a Quite a lot of these big retailers are just full of different moving parts.

Yeah, I'm very bullish on Kingfisher.

I think it's lovely.

So obviously I will declare an interest.

I love businesses that are asset-rich doing buybacks.

It's got net cash, plus stuff full of freeholds.

The balance sheet is amazing at Kingfisher.

Why is it that shares in the owner of B&Q are up quite so dramatically this week?

Yes, B&Q's owner, a company called Kingfisher, a member of the FTSE 100, was the biggest riser on Tuesday.

Its stock was up about 10% last time I checked.

They have upped their profit forecast.

this year.

B&Q itself actually saw a slight dip in sales down about 2.9%.

But the other company owned by Kingfisher called Screwfix is up 5.6%.

That's what drove their growth.

Louise, good to speak to you.

Kingfisher, let's start with, uh, the retailer fixing up its guidance.

How's it doing?

[laughs] It has, yeah.

So gains really in Screwfix, Poland, and Spain.

Also, e-commerce doing very we- very well.

That's been a big focus for, for Kingfisher and its brands.

And then crucially, uh, it was saying that tradespeople are really boosting demand rather than, um, or more than DIY retailers, which is just quite an interesting point.

Yes, another frenetic one for consumer stocks.

So we've got Kingfisher on Tuesday.

You know, all the noise will be around how B&Q and Screwfix performed over that hot summer.

We've yet to name a new CEO there at Kingfisher, actually, to replace Thierry Garnier.

So that might be interesting.

Then the following day, we've got JD Sports.