Kingfisher, the group behind B&Q, Screwfix, TradePoint and several European home-improvement brands, reported a stronger UK performance in its 2025/26 financial year and again published updated half-year results in September 2026. For homeowners, the useful question is not whether a retailer's profit has gone up. It is what the current results reveal about how people are buying home-improvement products and which parts of the market are changing.
The earlier version of this page contained unsupported statements about low mortgage rates, a 30% e-commerce share and a fabricated garden example. Those claims have been removed. The revised article uses Kingfisher's own current results and keeps the conclusions within what those numbers can actually support.
B&Q and Screwfix both grew in the latest full-year results
Kingfisher's results for the year ended 31 January 2026 show B&Q/TradePoint sales of about £3.97 billion, with like-for-like sales growth of 3.3%. Screwfix reported sales of about £2.76 billion and like-for-like growth of 3.2%.
Those figures show that demand across Kingfisher's UK banners was resilient enough to produce growth, but they do not prove that every part of the home-improvement market was booming. Retail results reflect store openings, category mix, pricing, market-share changes and customer behaviour as well as underlying renovation demand.
Screwfix's digital sales are especially important
Kingfisher reported that Screwfix e-commerce sales grew by 5.2% and represented 59.4% of Screwfix sales in the 2025/26 year. App sales were reported at more than 41% of Screwfix e-commerce sales.
That is a much stronger and more useful digital datapoint than the unsupported “30% of total revenue” claim that appeared in the previous version of this article. It shows that online ordering is deeply embedded in how Screwfix customers buy, particularly where speed, repeat purchases and collection are important.
For homeowners, the practical lesson is simple: a product being available online can make sourcing easier, but the important details remain stock location, delivery or collection time, product compatibility and returns terms.
B&Q's marketplace is becoming a bigger part of the range
Kingfisher also reported strong growth in B&Q's marketplace activity. A marketplace can significantly increase the number of products visible on a retailer's website because some items are supplied by third-party sellers rather than stocked directly in the retailer's own network.
That creates more choice, but it also makes it more important to read the product page carefully. Check who the seller is, who fulfils the order, what the delivery estimate means, and which returns process applies. A familiar retail brand on the website does not always mean every product follows the same fulfilment route.
More stores do not remove the need to plan purchases
Kingfisher expanded parts of its UK store estate, including new Screwfix locations and B&Q openings. That can improve access, particularly for urgent or bulky purchases, but homeowners should still avoid buying important renovation materials too early or too late.
Materials should be linked to the project programme. Ordering too early can create storage and damage risks; ordering too late can stop the job. Long-lead items such as specialist fittings, doors or made-to-measure products should be confirmed before trades are booked around them.
Retail growth does not tell you whether a specific renovation is affordable
A retailer's sales or profit figures are not a household budget benchmark. A homeowner deciding whether to proceed with a kitchen, bathroom or extension still needs a project-specific cost plan.
Start with the scope of work, then separate labour, materials, professional fees, permissions, waste, access costs and a realistic contingency. Retail trends can explain the wider market but cannot replace a quote or survey for your own property.
Do not confuse market share with product quality
Kingfisher said Screwfix gained market share across several categories. That is a commercial performance measure, not a product-quality test. A high-selling product can still be wrong for a particular installation, and a less common product may be the correct technical choice.
For electrical, plumbing or structural products, suitability should be checked against the actual installation requirements and the manufacturer's technical information. Where regulations or safety are involved, use a competent professional rather than treating popularity as evidence of compliance.
Why the rise of app and online ordering matters to homeowners
Fast digital ordering can save time during a live project, especially when a common part or consumable is needed urgently. But speed can also encourage rushed decisions. A product ordered in minutes can still be the wrong size, rating, finish or specification.
Before checking out, compare the model number against the job requirement and keep a record of what was ordered. If a tradesperson specified the item, ask them to confirm the exact reference where possible. This is particularly important for replacement parts that look similar across product ranges.
What the results suggest about professional and DIY demand
Kingfisher's UK portfolio serves both household DIY customers and trade users. Screwfix and TradePoint are heavily oriented towards professionals, while B&Q serves a broader mix. Growth across those businesses can therefore reflect both homeowner spending and professional maintenance or construction activity.
That is why it is risky to use one retailer's results as a direct measure of homeowner confidence. The figures are useful context, but they combine different customer groups and types of project.
How to use retailer data without being misled
When a retailer reports strong sales, ask what actually changed. Was growth driven by new stores, higher volumes, digital sales, category mix or market-share gains? Was the comparison like-for-like, or did the estate change? Is the figure UK-only or group-wide?
Those questions matter because a headline such as “profits rise” can easily become a vague claim that the whole renovation market is booming. Kingfisher's public results contain enough detail to make a more careful interpretation possible.
A homeowner checklist before buying renovation products
- Confirm the specification: model, size, finish, capacity and technical requirements.
- Check fulfilment: store stock, marketplace seller or supplier-direct delivery can mean different lead times.
- Confirm returns: especially for large, special-order or opened items.
- Match buying to the programme: avoid storing fragile or bulky materials unnecessarily.
- Keep order records: references and receipts make later returns, warranty claims and reorders easier.
- Use competent installers where required: retailer availability does not replace professional judgement or legal requirements.
What the latest Kingfisher numbers do and do not tell us
The results support a fairly modest conclusion: Kingfisher's UK home-improvement businesses were resilient, B&Q and Screwfix grew, digital ordering remained important, and the group continued investing in store formats and marketplace activity.
They do not prove that mortgage conditions are driving renovations, that every home-improvement category is growing at the same rate, or that a particular homeowner should spend now. Those were the kinds of overstatements that made the earlier article weak.
Bottom line
Kingfisher's 2026 results are useful because they show how one of the UK's largest home-improvement retail groups is evolving: more digital ordering, continued store expansion, stronger marketplace activity and growth across B&Q and Screwfix.
For homeowners, the best use of that information is practical. Expect more ways to source products, but keep the discipline of checking specifications, fulfilment routes, returns and installation requirements. Retail convenience can make a renovation easier; it cannot make a wrong product right.