Kingfisher, owner of the B&Q DIY chain, attempted to reassure investors this morning it would meet full-year profit targets despite a 1.9 per cent fall in like-for-like sales in the UK during the fourth quarter.

Today's trading update is the first presented by Ian Cheshire, Kingfisher's new chief executive who, until taking over the helm earlier this year from Gerry Murphy, was in charge of the company's B&Q division where sales rose just 0.2 per cent.

Total UK sales fell by 5.1 per cent to £989 million in the 13 weeks to February 2.

Kingfisher also disclosed that like-for-like sales in China, where the company began to expand under Mr Murphy's tenure, had slumped by 7.5 per cent. In total, revenues fell by 3.4 per cent to £122 million.

The region, once a strong area of growth for the home improvements company since the majority of apartments are sold as empty shells, saw sales of flats fall by 10 per cent.

At the same time, new laws governing terms between retailers and suppliers have been introduced in China and now mean a buyer can no longer secure the same large discount rates from their suppliers as they have in the past.

Falling sales in the UK and China, were offset by strong growth in Europe, spanning Poland, Italy, Spain, Ireland and Russia, where like-for-like sales increased by 4.4 per cent and total revenues rose 27 per cent to £315 million.

Like-for-like sales in France increased by 1.1 per cent and total trading increased by 14.1 per cent to £754 million.

Overall, like-for-like sales dipped by 0.5 per cent while total revenue rose by 4.6 per cent to £2.1 billion.

Mr Cheshire said: "In the UK, we made good progress in a challenging market and B&Q finished the year in better shape after the biggest year of change in its history.

He also said: "'Kingfisher's international businesses, which account for more than half of group sales, continued to grow, with Castorama in France and Poland performing particularly strongly.

"Continuing this momentum will be our key international priority next year, along with addressing our performance in China."

Shares in Kingfisher rose 1p to 133p, but continue to bump along at a 10-year low after nearly halving in value over the past 12 months as investors took fright at a slowdown in the housing market.

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