B&Q's unsatisfactory performance, Cui Fengchun's net profit plummeted by nearly 70%

The annual net profit of the UK Kingfisher Group fell by nearly 70% due to the overall shrinkage of business at the doorstep. The Group’s B&Q British chain is the “culprit” of the decline in profit for the fiscal year.

The latest annual report released by Europe’s largest home improvement retailer shows that the group’s net profit for the fiscal year ended January 28 was £139 million ($243 million). The same period last year was 446.5 million pounds, a drop of 68.9%. The group’s annual sales increased by 4.7% to 8.01 billion pounds, of which Baanju’s sales fell by 3.7%. Unlike the Chinese market, B&Q has a difficult time in the UK market. Due to the downturn in the local home improvement market, Baianju spent a total of 146.6 million pounds in Kingfish Group's layoffs in this year's closing shop, which caused the group's net profit to fall. In September last year, Kingfisher Group announced the closure of 22 B&Q chain stores while cutting 400 jobs.

In stark contrast to this, B&Q (China)'s performance has been making great strides. Kingfisher Group said last week that it expects B&Q (China) store sales to maintain double-digit growth in the next five years. Wei Zhe, president of B&Q China, stated that the company’s market share has grown rapidly. According to data from Reuters, after entering the Chinese market in 1999, B&Q (China) sales maintained double-digit growth for six consecutive years, of which last year sales increased 48% to 313 million pounds (about 547 million US dollars).

For the results achieved in the past year, Greenfield Group CEO Gerry Murphy pointed out that the group has achieved good results in continental Europe and Asia, but the group's performance in the British national market has been rather poor. For this year's situation, Murphy said that since the traditional hot-selling season has not yet fully started in the spring and summer, it is still difficult to predict sales this year. In addition, the real estate boom also provides many opportunities for home decoration in the second half of the year. However, Kingfisher Group warned that the unfavorable situation in the UK market is not expected to change this year. For the loss of B&Q, the reason is very complicated for Murphy. Changes in house prices and changes in interest rates have affected the confidence of British consumers. There is no doubt that home improvement has also been “linked” by real estate.

Although the financial figures are bad, the capital market does the opposite. On the afternoon of the announcement, the shares of the Kingfisher Group trading in London did not fall, but rose by 1.23% to 246 pence. Because some analysts pointed out that the US home Depot and other companies may issue a potential acquisition offer, thus pushing up the Kingfisher Group's share price.

According to AFP statistics, Kingfisher ranked third in the global home improvement retail industry, with a total of more than 600 stores in Asia and Europe. The Group’s Baianju has 48 chain stores in 8 cities in China.