Corporate contact: what happened? We have spoken to Kingfisher, which is due to report Q3 sales pre-market on 25 November. There has been no change to full-year guidance. In line with our expectations post the H1 results (see Strong H1 but we are cautious on H2), we expect FY Jan-26 adjusted PBT consensus to rise to a level slightly above full year guidance for the top end of the range of GBP 480m to 540m, since investors believe that this guidance is potentially conservative. Key takeaways from the call . UK: UK Barclaycard DIY spending data for August and September was sequentially more negative. While the UK consumer was resilient in H1, the company reflagged that it is cautious on the second half given labour-market softness, higher food inflation and UK Budget uncertainty. It reiterated the expectation for a middle of the range - flat to low single digit growth - outcome for the UK. . France: Banque de France DIY sales data for August was weak with a slight improvement in September, albeit still negative. The company remains cautious about the French consumer in H2 and expects a middle to lower end of the range - low-mid single digit decline to flat - outcome for France. . Poland: Statistics Poland retail sales data for the ''other'' category, which captures DIY sales, has shown early signs of improvement, particularly for September where growth turned positive for the first month of 2025. The company is slightly more optimistic about the Polish consumer in H2 and expects a middle of the range - low single digit decline to low single digit growth - outcome for Poland. . Gross margin: Of the 100bps gross margin rise in H1, around 60bps came from buying/sourcing efficiencies, 10bps from Marketplace and the remainder from strong seasonal and big-ticket sales. The company reiterated its expectation for buying/sourcing efficiencies to continue into the second half of the year. We model a c.40bps benefit in H2. . Adj PBT guidance: At the H1...