Kingfisher plc (KGFHF) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

2025-03-25 12:34:02 ET

Kingfisher plc (KGFHF)

Q4 2025 Results Conference Call

March 25, 2025 05:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Thierry Garnier - Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director

Bhavesh Mistry - Chief Financial Officer & Director

Majid Nazir - Group Investor Relations Director

Conference Call Participants

Warwick Okines - BNP Paribas

Anne Critchlow - Berenberg

Kate Calvert - Investec

Adam Cochrane - Deutsche Bank

Richard Chamberlain - RBC Capital Markets

Grace Gilberg - Jefferies

Geoff Lowery - Redburn

Charles Allen - Bloomberg Intelligence

Izabel Dobreva - Morgan Stanley

Presentation

[Call Starts Abruptly] I will then update you on the progress being made against our key strategic objectives, including our plan for France before we open up for Q&A.

So there are 4 key things I want to highlight about our performance. And first is market share. We see this as a key indicator of our progress beyond the macroeconomic trends, and I'm pleased with our performance here. Kingfisher delivered market share gains in the U.K. and Ireland, in France and in Poland in the year that market share growth is being powered by our group strategic initiatives and strong execution against our plans.

Point number two, we have seen strong delivery in 2 key areas of the group strategy, trade and e-commerce. Our trade sales penetration is up 4.9 points to 17.9%, supported by the development of our trade proposition in all banners.

Group e-commerce sales penetration is now 19% compared to 8% in 2019, partly driven by our successful marketplaces, which are now live in all markets. These are 2 group-led strategic initiatives that we successfully implemented in the U.K. first. They are the blueprint for Kingfisher's strategy, and we are now actively rolling out this recipe of success to all our other markets. And you will see this demonstrated across today's presentation.

At the same time, we are accelerating our restructuring plan at Castorama France. By the end of this financial year, we'll have completed or been in the process of completed works on 24 low-performing stores. With our financial performance, we stayed disciplined against a challenging market backdrop. Our adjusted profit before tax and free cash flow was in line with or ahead of the initial guidance we set last year.

And we have a strong grip on the operational levers of our business. Gross margin was up 50 basis points. And as guided, we delivered £120 million of structural cost reductions. We also reduced same-store inventory by £107 million. So overall, Kingfisher is in its best operational shape for years, and we remain confident about the growth opportunities in our business.

So let me now hand over to Bhavesh. Thank you.

Bhavesh Mistry

Thank you, Thierry. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. It's great to meet so many of you in person. I'm now 2 months into my role as Kingfisher's new CFO and have spent time meeting colleagues across the business and visiting stores across our banners.

I'd like to thank all the teams for the warm welcome I've received. I've been impressed with what I've seen and heard, particularly the enthusiasm and commitment of the teams across our markets to delivering a great customer proposition and our strategic priorities. Kingfisher is a company with a clear strategy driving our market-leading businesses....

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