Kingfisher, which runs B&Q, today cheered shareholders when it hiked its dividend for the first time in five years and beat annual profit forecasts.
The DIY group almost doubled capital spending to £400m as it raised its dividend by 3.3% to 5.5p a share. Profits before tax and one-off items jumped 49% to £547m in the year to January, ahead of City expectations of £543m.
Like other retail executives, Kingfisher boss Ian Cheshire said he remained cautious about the outlook for consumer spending across Europe, but was confident that Kingfisher would do well.
Fashion retailer Next has beaten its own forecasts with an 18% rise in full-year profits to £505m. But it was reluctant to make predictions for this year because the outlook is so uncertain. It raised the divi by 20% to 66p a share.
Meanwhile, menswear chain Moss Bros reported a pretax loss of £9.3m and won't pay a final dividend for the year. However, like-for-like sales improved in the second half, rising 1.6% against a fall of 2.6% in the first half.
Summer bookings at Europe's second-biggest holiday group Thomas Cook have picked up across all of its major markets. In the UK, bookings were up 30% in the last four weeks and 54% of holidays have now been sold, with 5% less left to sell for the season than this time last year. Prices are 2% higher on average than last year.
Rail network services company Jarvis has called in administrators after its lenders refused to extend further support to the company and keep it trading. Its shares have been suspended.
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