FINANCE: Kingfisher will be closing 60 B&Q stores in the UK and a “few” loss making stores in Europe, the company has said.
In its preliminary results for the year ending 31 January, the company announced a 15.2% fall in pretax profit to £644m over the year.
The closures are the first major move by Kingfisher’s chief executive Veronique Laury, and will result in a one-off cost of £350m.
In a separate announcement the company said that Kevin O’Byrne, executive director of Kingfisher, is to step down from the board and leave the business on 15 May.
O’Byrne joined the board in September 2008 as group finance director. In 2013 he took full responsibility for running B&Q UK & Ireland.
Laury said: “I would like to thank Kevin for his contribution to Kingfisher over the past six years. He has played an important part in the development of the company over that time and I wish him well in the future.”
