Kingfisher hit by chill winds

COLD weather across Northern Europe has added to consumer spending woes at B&Q group Kingfisher, which today warned it has made a 'weak' start to the year.

Chief executive Gerry Murphy also revealed the group is to pump £250m into its UK pension scheme, which has a deficit of £209m, over the next three years.

Along with the colder-than-average weather, which has also hit Kingfisher's Castorama operations in France, Murphy said the early Easter this year also presents 'an added challengeî in the first quarter.

But he claimed all parts of the group are 'well prepared for the upcoming-spring and summer peak trading periods'.

The slow start to the year follows a surprise fall in underlying sales at the group's core B&Q doit-yourself chain in the final quarter of 2004, as the consumer spending slowdown took its toll.

Despite the 1.2% drop in sales at B&Q over the final three months, Kingfisher today produced full-year figures in line with its forecast last month, with post-exceptional, pre-tax profits rising 16.2% to £686.5m. Group sales were up 8.7% to £7.7bn, or 3.9% like-for-like.

The dividend total is raised 10.4% to 10.65p. The shares fell 1½p to 289p in early trading.