B&Q owner Kingfisher well stocked for Christmas as early shipping pays off

By James Davey

LONDON (Reuters) – B&Q and Castorama owner Kingfisher (LON:KGF) said it was well stocked with Christmas products, thanks to a strategy of building up inventory early to mitigate the risk of supply chain disruption.

European retailers have faced a year of disruption from the Red Sea shipping crisis, with ongoing Houthi rebel attacks near the Suez Canal forcing cargo ships to take a much longer route around Africa.

Home improvement retailer Kingfisher, which reported third-quarter results on Monday, said it shipped orders for Christmas decorations, artificial trees and fairy lights up to six weeks earlier this year to ensure availability for customers.

The move has been mirrored across the sector.

Earlier this month, FTSE 100-listed discounter B&M, which sells everything from garden furniture and electrical items to toys, said it had consciously built its autumn/winter stock-holding early to remove the risk of supply chain snarls.

Similarly, Swedish giant IKEA, pulled forward orders of its “VINTERFINT” Christmas collection of tableware, ornaments, gifts and decorations, with around half the range sourced from Asia where disruptions have been most keenly felt.

Warsaw-listed European discount retailer Pepco Group has also said it is shipping product earlier.

The group, which trades as Pepco, Poundland and Dealz, is also utilising train and air freight options, while Zara owner Inditex (BME:ITX) has stepped up its use of air freight.

British toy retailer The Entertainer, worried that sea freight times were slipping, air freighted 45,000 “Ray” teddy bears from China, sacrificing some of its profit margin to guarantee receipt of a key item ahead of a TV advertising campaign that started in November.

“It’s a good example of something where there’s an absolute drop dead date that it has to be in the market, there’s no point in it turning up four weeks late, that would be useless,” CEO Andrew Murphy told Reuters.