Half-year profits at B&Q and Screwfix parent, Kingfisher have fallen 5.9% to £402 million amid what the company describes as “business disruption” on the second year of its five-year transformation.

Kingfisher made an underlying pretax profit of £440 million in the six months to July 31 - ahead of analysts’ average forecast of £426 million and £436 million made in the same period last year.   

Sales across the company were down by 1.3%

UK retail profit pushed marginally higher, up 1.7% to £215 million for the half year.

Chief executive Veronique Laury said: "Looking across our markets, we have seen solid growth at Screwfix and Poland, offset by continued weaker sales in France and some business disruption, principally reflecting product availability and clearance.”

"We are aware of and are acting on the causes of this disruption, which we are confident will ease.”

"For the full year, we have self-help plans in place to support our overall performance and remain comfortable with full-year profit expectations, though we remain cautious on the second half backdrop in the UK and France."

Sales in France dropped 4.1% to £2.3 billion, with like-for-like sales also down by 4.6%, as it struggled with a slow performance compared to the wider market.

The firm's five-year transformation plan hopes to deliver a £500 million profit boost by the end of 2020/21.

After releasing the first half results, Kingfisher held a press conference to discuss the figures and stated they have reduced their target next year down to 40% from 65%, due to the amount of disruption across the business.

Full report on the results will be in the September 29th issue of DIY Week.