DIYWEEK.net

Europe's largest home improvement retailer, said on Tuesday it planned to cut more than 400 jobs at its Castorama and Brico Depot units in France as it seeks to reduce costs amid weak sales.

Kingfisher, which is in the second year of a global plan to boost profit by £500million a year from 2021, made the announcement to staff representatives in France, where it employs over 20,000 people.

The plan, which is expected to cost £800million over five years to deliver, includes unifying product ranges and further developing e-commerce.

"This project would lead to 409 job cuts in France, the creation of 102 jobs and the transfer of 164 positions," the statement said.

In November, Kingfisher reported a third quarter like-for-like group sales decline of 0.5 percent, reflecting weak sales in France, where sales fell 4.1 percent.

Chief executive Véronique Laury said in November of the third quarter results: "We remain confident in our ability to deliver our long-term plan and in the financial and customer benefits it will generate. Early customer reaction to our new ranges continues to be encouraging.

“Q3 has followed a similar course to the first half. We have seen strong growth at Screwfix and Poland offset by continued weak sales in France, alongside some business disruption from our ONE Kingfisher plan, principally reflecting product availability and clearance. We continue to act on the causes of this disruption which we are confident will ease.

"We recognise that the transformation plan involves a lot of change for our colleagues and appreciate their continued hard work and expertise.”