Screwfix sales growth nails profits for B&Q owner Kingfisher

The company behind B&Q and Screwfix has reported an 11% jump in half-year profits - saying the performance was driven by its operations in the UK and Poland. Kingfisher said profit before tax came in at £427m for the six months to 31 July on sales of £5.8bn - a rise of 5% on the same period last year. It pointed to a jump in like-for-like sales in the UK and Ireland of 7% - with Screwfix, the trade-focused chain, seeing sales jump 15%.