LONDON: Kingfisher, Europe’s biggest home-improvements retailer, said yesterday that it will return cash to shareholders after annual profits rose by a quarter, sending its share price surging.
London-listed Kingfisher said in a results statement that it would return £200m to investors in its current financial year, which could take the form a share buyback and special dividend.
The group added that it had agreed to sell its entire 21.2-percent stake in Germany peer Hornbach for £195m following a review of the investment.
Kingfisher said that its net profits jumped 25.9 percent to £710m in the group’s 2013-2014 financial year that ended on February 1. That compared with profit after tax of £564m in the same part of the previous year.
The company, which runs the B&Q home improvements chain in Britain as well as Castorama and Brico Depot stores in France, added that revenues grew 5.2 percent to £11.13bn. AFP
