12 January 2021 | 07:51am
StockMarketWire.com - Home improvement retailer Kingfisher said it was comfortable with the top end of current market expectations for annual pre-tax profit as strong demand continued.
Based on trading to date, the company said it was comfortable with the top end of the range of current sell-side analyst estimates for fiscal 2020/2021 adjusted pre-tax profit of £667 million to £742 million.
Kingfisher said it had continued to experience strong demand across its markets following its Q3 update in November.
Fourth-quarter like-for-like sales to 9 January 2021, was up 16.9%, with LFL sales for the year to 9 January 2021, up 6.5%.
Looking ahead, the company said its visibility into performance had been impaired by fresh government-imposed lockdown restrictions to curb the spread of the virus.
12 January 2021 | 08:36am
StockMarketWire.com - UK stocks tracked sideways in early trade on Tuesday as fears about the economic impact of a third nationwide Covid-19 lockdown were tempered by a bevvy of company earnings upgrades.
At 0824, the benchmark FTSE 100 index had inched 2.04 points, or less than 0.1%, lower to 6,796.44.
Home improvement retailer Kingfisher added 3.5% to 289.2p on announcing that it was comfortable with the top end of current market expectations for its annual pre-tax profit as strong demand continued.
House builder Vistry rallied 3.6% to 984.5p, having guided for a full-year profit at the upper end of forecasts and resumption of dividends with a modest final payout.
12 January 2021 | 16:45pm
StockMarketWire.com - The FTSE 100 was off its lows for the day but still down 0.65% to 6,754.11 by the close as investors fretted about the pandemic.
The S&P 500 was a smidge lower by 4.30pm UK time, trading down 0.78 points at 3,798.72.
Home improvement retailer Kingfisher added 1.8% to 284.6p on announcing that it was comfortable with the top end of current market expectations for its annual pre-tax profit as strong demand continued.
Housebuilder Vistry surrendered earlier gains to trade down 0.2% to 948p, having guided for a full-year profit at the upper end of forecasts and resumption of dividends with a modest final payout.