Home improvement retailer Kingfisher will start a third £75million tranche of its share repurchase programme.
Last September the company, which owns B&Q and Screwfix in the UK, and Castorama and Brico Depot in France and other markets, committed to purchase £300million of its shares for cancellation.
Shares in FTSE 100-listed Kingfisher rose in early morning trading and are currently up 0.38 per cent or 1.20p to 317.70p. A year ago the group’s share price was 270.80p.
Shares: Kingfisher has announced it will start a third £75m tranche of its share repurchase programme
The company completed the second tranche of its share buyback programme on Monday. The second tranche was worth around £75million.
Kingfisher’s third quarter sales stood at £3.2billion, down 2.4 per cent on an annual like-foe-like basis, but up 15 per cent on a two-year like-for-like basis.
Market share gains continued to be made, with the retailer pushing its full-year sales and adjusted profit forecasts to the upper end of its prior guidance.
Profit of between £910million and £950million was previously estimated.
Kingfisher’s brands benefited from the boom in DIY during the pandemic, with millions of households spending more time at home.
But, vaccinations and increased travel opportunities this year could see DIY spending sacrificed in favour of holiday plans.
‘Broader product supply challenges and rising raw material costs are worth remembering, with around 25 per cent of its cost of goods sold coming from Asia’, Keith Bowman, an analyst at Interactive Investor, said late last year.
