Kingfisher has recorded a 6% increase in its profit before tax, reaching £560m in the year to 31 January.

The owner of brands including B&Q and Screwfix said the figure increased by 13% when excluding £33m one-off business rates refund benefit in the UK in the prior year.

In this period, its underlying like-for-like sales increased by 1.4%, delivered thorough its progress in strategic growth drivers, successful range reviews and "favourable" UK weather.

The firm said B&Q and Screwfix were its “standout performers” across the year, following drives in trade and e-commerce initiatives, product innovation, transference form the closure of Homebase stores and strong seasonal sales.

Furthermore, its adjusted earnings per share jumped by 14.9% to 23.8p through its profit delivery and ongoing share buyback programme.

Chief executive officer at Kingfisher, Thierry Garnier, said: "We have continued to execute our strategy at pace and delivered good margin and cost discipline. This resulted in significant market share gains, profit growth of 13% when excluding last year's business rates one-off and strong free cash flow.

"Our UK banners led the way, with sales 4% at B&Q and 4.5% at Screwfix. This reflects the growth of our digital ecosystem, increased share of wallet from trade customers and the opening of 34 new stores."

Kingfisher said it expects its profit before tax to reach between £565m and £625m. The firm has also announced the launch of a new £300m share buyback scheme.

Investment director at AJ Bell, Russ Mould, stated that Kingfisher’s performance can be tied to its tradesperson customer base.

He concluded: "Tradespeople go to a store for a specific reason and offering an efficient service is key to winning or losing, as there are plenty of other building materials suppliers who would be happy to serve them.

"Kingfisher says tradespeople visit more frequently and spend more money than the average retail customer. That makes sense as from the tradesperson’s perspective, this is not a discretionary spend. They’re in the store for a specific reason and not simply to browse. It is clear why Kingfisher is making this customer type a priority."

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