Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. I'm Thierry Garnier, CEO of Kingfisher. I'm here with our CFO, Bernard Bot. Also, in the audience, we have our Chair, Andy Cosslett. Welcome, Andy. We are together this morning at the London Stock Exchange. Having been at Kingfisher for nearly two years now, this is our first in-person results presentation, I'm very happy some of you are able to join us in the room today. For those of you who are joining virtually, I hope we'll get the opportunity to meet in person soon. Before I start, I would like to thank all our teams for their continued efforts. Our colleagues have been through unprecedented challenges and remain as engaged and committed as ever, for this, I'm extremely thankful to each and every one of them.
Our presentation today will start with an update on our operation and strategic progress, as well as a look ahead to market trends and our growth drivers. Bernard will present our financial performance, capital allocation framework, and outlook before we open the meeting for Q&A. To the key messages on slide five, and we have had a very strong first half of the year, driven by rapid progress against our strategic priorities. This is resulting in higher customer engagement and an improved competitive position in our key markets. We remain focused on managing efficiently the challenges faced by all retailers around supply, logistics, and cost inflation. During H1, we kept the situation under tight control, retaining good product availability at competitive prices and operating safely. We have addressed many of Kingfisher's historical issues with fixes now complete in the U.K. and Poland, and on track in France.
Now we're powered by Kingfisher strategy is moving ahead at pace ahead of schedule. With our business in such a strong position and our industry benefiting from new longer-term trends, we are now ready to accelerate our investments in multiple areas of the business, which have attractive longer-term growth opportunities. Finally, we are also in a position to return surplus capital to our shareholders with a £300 million to be returned via share buyback alongside an interim dividend of approximately £80 million. These attractive returns reflect our strong cash generation as well as our confidence in the outlook. On slide six, I'm pleased to report a strong financial performance for the period. In line with our financial priorities, we continue to prioritize top-line growth with like-for-like sales in H1 up 22.8%, representing a two year growth of over 21%.
This performance was supported by strong demand in all categories across retail and trade customer. Group e-commerce sales in H1 were over GBP 1.3 billion, up by 216% versus 2019, with penetration maintained year-on-year at 19% of total sales, compared to 7% in 2019. We have had a good start of the second half of the year with resilient demand across all markets. Like-for-like sales for Q3 to date are up by 16.1% on a two-year basis. Adjusted pre-tax profit increased 62% to GBP 669 million, twice the level of 2019, and our free cash flow remained very strong, over three times the level of 2019. Finally, alongside our share buyback, we have also announced an interim dividend of GBP 0.0380, which is higher than both our notional interim dividend last year and the interim dividend of 2019.
Turning now to slide 7, throughout the pandemic, our actions have centered around doing the right thing for our colleagues, customers, and communities, as well as protecting our business for the long-term. As a result, we also accelerated many elements of our strategy, and we are far stronger. However, like many other businesses, we have also had to deal with significant operational challenges in the last several months, which I am pleased to say have been managed effectively in H1. These challenges included product supply and availability, shipping and logistics, and cost price inflation, which I will now describe in more detail. Firstly, we have collaborated closely with suppliers and logistics providers, improved our forecasting processes, and placed orders significantly ahead of peak trading periods. As a result, product availability has gradually improved during H1.
The challenges around the cost and availability of shipping containers and HGV drivers have been well managed to date. We'll continue to focus on rebuilding inventory levels in the second half ahead of next year's peak trading periods and an earlier Chinese New Year. We expect inventory levels to be higher year-on-year at the end of January. Despite the focus on supply and availability, we are also seeing a good improvement in inventory health and inventory turn, reflecting structural improvements in the supply chain and forecasting efficiency. We have not experienced any major issues around recruitment or colleague absence, and we continue to monitor this closely. On inflation, in line with the wider industry, we are seeing higher than normal cost price increases. The impact of this has been well managed in H1.
We expect inflationary pressures to persist through H2 as higher cost inventory is sold through. As demonstrated in H1, we are committed to managing the cost implications effectively. Finally, we are maintaining our strong competitive price index, assisted by better buying of products. Moving on to slide eight, we have made significant progress with fixing Kingfisher's historical issues. Our fixes for the U.K. and Poland are done, our range and supply and logistic changes in France are on track to complete within the next 12 months. More on that on the next slide. We have now finalized fundamental reorganizations of both our commercial and our technology and digital operating models, enabling agility and speed to market. We also completed the rollout of our SAP platform in all relevant banners except Brico Dépôt France, which is targeted for completion towards the end of next year.
We have added significant talent this year to the key business areas of digital, technology, and data, further reinforcing our e-commerce capability and technology-driven development plans. New trading approaches have been implemented in all retail banners, enabling us to serve customers more efficiently while maintaining and improving our price positioning across the group. Focusing now on France on Slide nine, I'm happy to report that our repair actions are largely complete. We have a strong new leadership and teams in place. We have rebalanced our relationship between our two banners and Kingfisher Group. At Castorama, we have addressed the SAP pain points from previous years and implemented the new group digital technology stack. E-commerce sales have grown by more than 4x at Castorama in two years.
As we highlighted in March, the next step was to progress with repairing the ranges of both banners and optimizing the supply and logistic network in France. Castorama's range is improving significantly, with now more than 6,000 SKUs introduced since February 2020. The business has cut back on non-critical range reviews and is leveraging Kingfisher's OEB products to extend customer choice while also reintroducing popular local brands. At Brico Dépôt, we are moving ahead with plans to reduce SKU to focus on key discount products while also differentiating from Castorama and general DIY peers through our tailored OEB products. We are also progressing well with the fundamental reorganization of the logistic network in France. Work is ongoing to optimize the distribution center network, and we have reduced space in distribution center by 13% in the last 12 months. Furthermore, we are creating a single cross-dock logistic network for both banners.
Cross-dock, which is a way of moving product from a manufacturer to our stores with little or no storage in between. With this program, we plan over the next 12 months to significantly reduce the distance required to service our stores with shorter lead times, better customer service, lower levels of inventory, and a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Finally, our modernization phase is also moving at pace. As well as the fast click and collect services introduced in 2020, our e-commerce business in France is now supported by a new store hub model at Castorama, similar to that successfully implemented at B&Q last year. This hub model is allowing us to leverage stock picking for faster home delivery around all stores, while in parallel, using some of our stores for wider coverage home delivery.
Customer growth has been strong in France, especially online, and we are happy with strong levels of revenue retention of customer cohorts acquired in 2020. On services, we have strengthened and expanded our partnership with NeedHelp, Kingfisher's online services marketplace that connects tradespeople to customers who need home improvement help. For the first time in France, we are testing right sizing along with compact store test at Castorama. Brico Dépôt will also conduct its first compact store test in H1 next year. As a result of these actions, like-for-like sales and e-commerce sales are strong compared to 2019. Our competitive position in France has clearly improved, and retail profit has more than doubled in the last 12 months. Our range repair and logistic optimization program will complete in the next 12 months, which will support profitable long-term growth in France.
Slide 10 outlines our delivery against our strategic plans is ahead of schedule in many areas. On e-commerce, our priority is to deliver growth through providing speed, convenience, and choice to our customers. In H1, we continued to focus on store-picked orders and last mile delivery. More on this in the next slide. Our own exclusive brands, or OEB, continued to perform strongly, providing a strong source of differentiation for our retail banners in term of design, functionality, sustainability, and value for money, as well as carrying a higher gross margin. I will review our strong OEB performance in more detail shortly. More than ever, mobile is at the center of retail. The new Screwfix app is an example of our innovation in this area, with over 1 million downloads to date.
We are also rolling out self-checkouts to over 100 B&Q stores before the end of the year, and our mobile Scan and Go technology is now fully live in Brico Dépôt Iberia, as well as being trialed in B&Q stores. We are enhancing showroom services with a new 3D design tool, which will be rolled out across the U.K. and Romania in H2. Customer engagement around installation services is also growing, with a steady growth of the percentage of customers choosing kitchen and bathroom installations. Following successful trials, we are also rolling out our NeedHelp services marketplace in the U.K. and in Poland, leveraging Kingfisher's strong relationships with tradespeople. We are continuing to test compact stores and adapt our store footprint following encouraging results from our test last year. This year, we have opened 5 new compact stores at B&Q, along with our first test in Poland.
Screwfix opened 20 new outlets in H1 in the U.K. and Ireland and is targeting over 70 by the end of the financial year. We're also planning more rightsizing tests at both B&Q and Castorama France following a successful relaunch at B&Q Canterbury earlier this year. We are expanding B&Q tool hire partnership with Speedy Hire, as well as our store-in-store partnership with Asda, and we are on track to open the first two B&Q franchise stores in the Middle East in H2. The store and support offices functions will be operated and staffed by the Al-Futtaim Group. We also continue to source and buy better while reducing cost and inventory days.
We have multiple cost reduction programs in place, including store productivity, supply chain, technology and GNFR spend, lowering of energy costs, and lease regearings, where we completed 10 B&Q lease renegotiations in H1 for a combined rent reduction of around 25%. We are in the process of renewing strategic partnerships with our top 15 international brands and are benefiting from improved inventory health, driven by lower delisted and slow-moving stock. This has led to a big improvement in our net stock days, which are down by 15% year-on-year. Finally, we remain committed to making a positive impact on our colleagues, customers, communities, and the planet. I will cover our progress against these four priorities shortly. During the period, we also arranged a new £550 million sustainability-linked revolving credit facility, which enables Kingfisher to benefit from a lower interest rate if we deliver on ambitious sustainability and community-based targets.
Overall, our strategic actions are driving our strong trading as well as clear improvements in our competitive position, and there is a lot for us to be encouraged by. Turning now to slide 11 and a closer look at e-commerce. This channel continues to transform and grow fast, with e-commerce sales up 21% on last year and up by 216% versus the same period in 2019. Overall sales in this channel now represent almost a fifth of group sales, compared to 7% in 2019. This growth has been enabled by our move to a store-based picking and fulfillment model, with 90% of the group's online orders picked in-store in H1, both including and excluding Screwfix. 57 of our B&Q stores are currently being used as digital hubs for fulfilling home deliveries, serving nearly 100% of all U.K. postcodes.
We have started to implement a similar model at Castorama France in H1, which now covers all stores. The same model is now in place in all stores in Poland. In the U.K., we are reorganizing our distribution and fulfillment capacity with three new sites opening within the next six-12 months, which will allow faster store replenishment and expanded available range for home delivery and wider coverage of fulfillment. Click and collect remains by far our most significant online fulfillment channel, responsible for 73% of all e-commerce sales. We are now offering car park collections in France, as well as contactless drive-through collection in both France and Poland. Following a successful trial in Poland, up to 4,000 click and collect lockers will be rolled out nationally from H2. We have also trials of lockers at B&Q.
Our most disruptive recent development is Screwfix launch of its Sprint service, offering delivery of orders direct to site within one hour. Sprint will be available in more than 30 cities across the U.K. by November, covering one third of the U.K. postcodes, with further rollout plan in 2022. This underlines Screwfix focus on speed and convenience, building on its industry-leading one minute click and collect proposition. Lessons from this test are being shared with other retail banners that are also testing same-day delivery. Finally, we continue to review the best options to further expand product choice, including an e-commerce marketplace proposition. Moving on to slide 12. This has been another successful period for our own exclusive brands, both in terms of development and performance. OEB sales were up 22.8% and by 24.6% versus 2019, outperforming non-OEB ranges.
OEB penetration is stable at 46% of total sales, which is a good achievement considering the reintroduction of many branded products. The kitchen range change is one of the largest and most disruptive implementation for Kingfisher. I'm pleased to report that our new OEB kitchen range has landed successfully in the U.K., in France, Poland and Romania without significant disruption. Our new range is supported by our market-leading price positioning, new installation services, and innovative in-store and online design tools. Like-for-like sales of this range in H1 was double-digit for the group, despite COVID-related restrictions in the first few months of the year. Our key focus with OEB is to cover more of our customer needs and to support our multiple banner formats in becoming more differentiated. To date, 10 new own exclusive brands have been created with a further 18 own brands redeveloped.
All are ready for implementation from H2. To illustrate the power of this differentiation, sales volumes of the new Titan pressure washer OEB range at Screwfix is already outperforming our sales volume of major branded competitors. In H1, we launched our new Magnusson ranges for building, plumbing and plastering and garden hand tools range. Magnusson general hand tools range is now the number one hand tools brand across Kingfisher. Our GoodHome products continue to receive recognition across the industry with prestigious design awards received for many of our products. We also saw a successful launch in France of our new Atomia wardrobe and space management solutions. We are pleased with our progress with OEB, which is providing significant power to our banners in meeting customer needs as well as driving profitable sales growth.
On to slide 13 and an update on responsible business, taking each of our four priorities in turn. Our commitment to doing the right thing for our colleagues remains a key priority. We have continued to focus on serving our customers' needs as effectively as possible while protecting the safety of all, especially our colleagues on the frontline. We have also ensured the right mechanism are in place to listen and capture feedback. Following our annual engagement survey, I was happy to see a strong employee NPS score ranking within the top 10% of global retailers. In addition, over 9,000 colleagues recently became shareholders of Kingfisher through our All Colleague Share Plan, of which nearly 75% are store-based colleagues. Turning to our planet targets, in June, we announced that the Science Based Targets initiative had now formally approved our new carbon reduction targets.
These targets are consistent with the reductions needed to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees, the most ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement. We are now one of a small number of retailers worldwide to have such an improved commitment. As part of our commitment to becoming forest positive by 2025, several projects have now commenced in some of the world's most at-risk areas for deforestation. With regards to customers, last year, over 40% of group sales came from products that create greener, healthier homes. This year, we are accelerating our focus on sustainable home product development through our OEB ranges. We are also exploring ways in which we can support government initiatives around greener homes. Finally, on communities, we remain fully committed to helping improve homes and community spaces.
We have now doubled our previous ambition by committing to help at least 2 million people who live in unfit housing, having already supported 800,000 people to date. All of this is set out in more detail in our latest Responsible Business Report, published in June. Turning now to slide 14, the COVID crisis has brought forward and established four new trends that we believe are supportive over the long-term. Although we are seeing a continued return to the office, both workers and businesses have adapted to new ways of working, which will result in more working from home than before. With an estimated 50% of the developed world workforce being office workers, this trend will continue to drive a need to adapt homes and address incremental wear and tear.
Our research shows that half of those working from home during the pandemic expect to do more DIY in the future. Over the last 18 months, we have also seen DIY activity increase significantly among 18-34-year-olds. Our research from this age group shows that 64% of them believe they have improved their DIY skills, 71% feel more confident with DIY, and 75% enjoyed it. This age group is a very important development for the long-term growth of our industry. Therefore, for now, the pipeline of activity in the U.K. and French housing markets looks robust. Historically, housing house moves have created significant incremental demand for our industry in the 12-18 months following a move as new owners invest in kitchen, bathrooms, and general DIY.
The race to zero is high on political agendas around the world. Housing is a significant contributor to climate change, and in the U.K. and France, around 75% of houses are deemed energy inefficient. Around 9% of our total sales currently come from energy and water-saving products, our foundation for growth in green renovation is solid, backed up by our powerful OEB capabilities. With our strategic execution and these supportive market trends, we are excited about the growth opportunities that lie ahead. This leads to slide 15. With our business in a strong position, we are now ready to accelerate investments for growth in multiple areas of the business. We will be stepping up our digital investment with new initiatives around faster fulfillment and broader choice, including Screwfix disruptive one hour delivery proposition.
Screwfix has been a phenomenal growth story, delivering an exceptionally high return on capital employed, and the business is ready to move to the next stage of its journey. Following the identification of further opportunities in certain catchment areas, we now see a medium-term roadmap to over 1,000 stores in both the U.K. and Republic of Ireland, versus a previous target of 900. Furthermore, as part of its broader international expansion plans, the business launched Screwfix as a pure-play online retailer in France in April 2021, and initial results are encouraging. Investment in expansion will now be accelerated, and we expect to open Screwfix first stores in France in 2022. In Poland, which has also exhibited strong growth in previous years with a high return on capital, we have developed more ambition expansion plans to build on our number one position in the market.
We are on track to open seven new stores in Poland by the end of this financial year and expect to open even more stores next year. Finally, TradePoint, which is 19% of B&Q's sales, has a significant growth opportunity. TradePoint's relaunch in the U.K. is underway to be supported by a new website and a new loyalty experience for our trade customers. The business is also currently trialing a small number of new store layouts. To summarize, we are making strong progress on our core strategy priorities with delivery ahead of schedule in many areas. This is allowing us to now accelerate investment to capitalize on several attractive growth opportunities. With my update now concluded, let me hand over to Bernard.
Thank you, Thierry. Good morning, everyone. On to slide 17 and the key financials for the half. As you can see, the financial performance in the half was strong. Sales were up 22.2% to GBP 7.1 billion, which is 22.8% on like-for-like and 21.3% on a two year basis. We generated gross profits of GBP 2.7 billion, driven by strong sales growth and by 100 basis points increase in the gross margin. The increase was the result of range initiatives, supply and logistics efficiencies, effective management of inflation, and the disposal of our Russian business. Retail profit increased by 45.1% to GBP 767 million, with the retail profit margin up 170 basis points to 10.8%. Adjusted pre-tax profit increased by 61.6% to GBP 669 million. Free cash flow was GBP 723 million. The year-on-year reduction reflects, as expected, the reversal of large positive working capital movements in H1 of last year.
Our strong cash position reduced net debt to GBP 908 million, with net leverage at 0.5x the last 12 months EBITDA. Moving to slide 18 and the performance of our major geographies. Starting with the U.K. and Ireland, where sales grew by 29.7%, including a 1.6% contribution from net space growth. Like-for-like sales at B&Q grew by 28.8% and 34% on a two-year basis. TradePoint outperformed the rest of B&Q with like-for-like sales up 39%. Larger ticket categories like kitchens and bathrooms performed well, despite showroom restrictions impacting the first three months of this year. Demand for outdoor products remained consistently strong. Like-for-like sales at Screwfix grew by 26.8% and by 25.4% on a two-year basis, reflecting continued strong momentum, in particular from trade customers. U.K. and Ireland retail profit increased by 40.8% to GBP 579 million. Retail profit margin increased 130 basis points to 16.2%.
This was the result of an increase in gross margin and a better operating cost to sales ratio. Gross margin rate increased by 10 basis points, reflecting higher volume rebates earned and effective management of inflation. This was partly offset by category mix and at Screwfix, more promotions and somewhat higher supply and logistics costs. Operating costs increased by 23.9%, largely due to higher costs associated with strong trading, store openings, and the impact of prior year non-recurring cost savings. These savings included business rates and furlough relief that we repaid in the second half of the year. In France, sales grew by 23.3%, including the negative impact from the closure of eight Castorama stores in the prior year. Like-for-like sales grew by 24.4% and by 17.1% on a two-year basis. COVID-related temporary store closures, mostly at Castorama, impacted like-for-like sales negatively by around 3%.
Like-for-like sales also benefited from the gradual opening of more stores on Sundays. Retail profit more than doubled to GBP 129 million, with a 220 basis points increase in retail profit margin and a better operating cost ratio. The gross margin rate increased by 80 basis points, reflecting range initiatives, supply and logistics efficiencies, and effective management of inflation. This was partly offset by more trading events and category mix. Operating costs increased by 18.3%. As in the U.K., this was mainly due to higher costs associated with strong trading and the impact of non-recurring cost savings in the prior year. Performance in Poland was impacted by temporary store closures for over five weeks in the first quarter. Like-for-like sales decreased by 5% and were down 1.7% on a two-year basis. The store closures had a net impact of around 9% on like-for-like sales. Space growth contributed 4.4% to sales.
Despite the like-for-like decline, gross profit increased year-on-year due to margin rate increasing by 70 basis points, largely from range initiatives and effective management of inflation. Retail profit in Poland decreased by 16.1% to GBP 58 million. This was due to store closures and an increase in operating cost of 8.4%. Higher operating costs were driven by space growth and store opening costs in addition to operating cost inflation. In Iberia, like-for-like sales increased by 45.5% and by 13% on a two-year basis. Retail profit of GBP 11 million was GBP 10 million higher year-on-year. Romania reduced its retail loss by 46% to GBP 6 million, driven by strong trading. Please note that Romania sales and retail loss include one extra month of results as we align the business to Kingfisher's reporting calendar. Slide 19 and the movement in Group retail profit.
In constant currency, this was up GBP 238 million or 45%. Like-for-like sales growth and the increase in gross margin rate contributed GBP 521 million. Net space growth contributed a further GBP 50 million, mainly driven by the permanent closure of eight Castorama France stores last year and the disposal of our loss-making Russian business. We managed to contain inflation related operating cost increases to GBP 24 million or 1.4%. Excluding operating costs related to the net space change and non-recurring net cost savings in the prior year, operating costs increased 9.3%. This is versus a 22.8% increase in like-for-like sales. Included in this are higher costs associated with increased sales levels, partially offset by cost savings in line with our focus on cost reduction. The next three bridge items relate to the reversal of COVID related net cost savings in the prior year.
Firstly, last year saw GBP 30 million of COVID related supply and logistics costs, which did not recur this year. Conversely, last year, the U.K. and Republic of Ireland benefited from furlough and business rates relief totaling GBP 67 million, which was subsequently repaid in H2. Finally, other non-recurring net cost savings in H1 last year totaled GBP 89 million. This included discretionary savings such as marketing, advertising, and travel, as well as employment support programs in France and Iberia. These savings were partially offset by COVID related costs such as PPE and additional bonuses to frontline store staff. Slide 20 highlights another period of strong cash generation for the group. We generated EBITDA of circa GBP 1 billion in the period. The working capital inflow of GBP 157 million is the result of a net GBP 460 million increase in payables, partially offset by GBP 303 million increase in inventory.
The net increase in payable largely reflects the timing of inventory purchases and higher VAT creditors associated with strong sales. The increase in inventory is largely due to the ongoing rebuild of stock levels. As Thierry mentioned, we expect to continue to rebuild inventory levels in H2, ahead of peak trading periods and an earlier Chinese New Year. As a result, we expect inventory levels to be lower than the seasonal peak at the 31st of July, but higher year-over-year at the end of January. Free cash flow for the period was GBP 723 million. The adjusting and other outflow of GBP 102 million includes a GBP 64 million payment to HMRC in relation to a European Commission state aid challenge. Together with many other corporates and the U.K. government, we are contesting this payment, and it is recorded as a receivable.
Dividends of GBP 174 million were paid in relation to the full-year 2021 interim and final dividends, resulting in an overall net cash movement in the period of GBP 447 million. Moving to slide 21 and our current liquidity and financial position. As of the 31st of July, we had over GBP 2 billion of total liquidity available, including over GBP 1.5 billion in cash and an undrawn credit facility of GBP 550 million. The new credit facility expires in May 2024 and is linked to sustainability and community-based targets. Our financial debt was GBP 105 million as of July 31st. Included in this is a EUR 50 million fixed term loan, which we'll repay in full this month. Net leverage was 0.5 times EBITDA at the end of the first half.
In the second half, we expect net leverage to move up as working capital normalizes, we increase CapEx in line with our original guidance, pay our interim dividend, and commence our share buyback program. Slide 22 provides an overview of the Group's capital allocation framework. Our primary focus, as you would expect, is to invest in compelling organic or inorganic growth opportunities that strengthen and accelerate our strategy. Our target growth CapEx remains unchanged at 3%-3.5% of sales per year on average. The growth initiatives that Thierry highlighted earlier may result in us being at the top end of that range or slightly higher as investments in these opportunities accelerate over the next two years. To ensure a solid investment grade credit rating, our medium-term target is circa 2x net debt to EBITDA.
We also aim to maintain sufficient liquidity and have currently set our headroom at GBP 1 billion. Our headroom includes our committed credit facilities and cash. In March 2021, the board announced a new dividend policy with a target ordinary dividend cover range of 2.25- 2.75 x based on adjusted basic earnings per share. The aim is for sustainable growth of the ordinary dividend over time. We anticipate our dividend cover may be a little bit above 2.75x in this financial year. If after considerations of these objectives there remains surplus capital, the board will evaluate returning this to shareholders in addition to the ordinary dividend. Applying this framework, in addition to the interim dividend of circa GBP 80 million, we are pleased to announce the return of our GBP 300 million share buyback program. This program will commence soon.
Finally, moving to slide 23 and our outlook and guidance for the full-year. Further technical guidance can be found in the appendix on slide 30. These expectations assume there is no adverse change in COVID-related confinement measures. Looking at the second half, we have made a good start with resilient demand across all markets. Like-for-like sales for Q3 to date are down 0.6%, up 16.1% on a two-year basis. As a result, we have increased our sales expectations for the second half, although we expect to see a progressive reduction of two-year growth rates in H2. Our planning scenarios for H2 show a like-for-like range of -7% to -3%, which was previously -15% to -5%. On a two-year basis, these equate to like-for-likes of +9% to +13%.
Applying these like-for-like scenarios, we now anticipate full-year adjusted PBT to be in the range of GBP 910 million-GBP 950 million. With the delivery of our strategic priorities ahead of schedule and the very supportive long-term trends in our industry, we're confident of continued outperformance of our wider markets. With that, let me now hand back to Thierry to summarize.
Thank you, Bernard. To summarize, we have delivered a strong financial performance in the first half of the year. Q3 has started well, and we are raising our sales expectation for H2. We have managed efficiently the operational issues widely faced by our industry, retaining good product availability at competitive prices and operating safely. We are making rapid progress in fixing historic issues, and we are delivering ahead of plan on the strategic priorities we set out 15 months ago. This strategic progress is enabling us to outperform in our key markets. We are also benefiting from several new trends, which we believe will support future growth of our industry. Finally, we are now ready to accelerate investment in several areas of the business in order to deliver further long-term growth.
We announced today a GBP 300 million share buyback, reflecting our strong cash generation as well as our confidence in the outlook. Thank you all for listening to us this morning, and Bernard and I would now be happy to answer any questions. Over to you, Maj.
Thank you very much, Thierry. Thank you very much, Bernard. We're now going to move to the Q&A from the floor first of all, so just please wait patiently for the mics to come over to you and then state your name and institution. We're going to start with Warwick.
Good morning. Thank you very much for the presentation. I've got two questions, please. Firstly, could you give some more detail on future cost efficiencies that are available in France, perhaps how much more supply chain space is there to take out and headquarter efficiencies? Secondly, you said that in the first half you mitigated cost inflation effectively. What sort of inflation are you seeing at the moment, and could you give us some examples of some mitigation? Thank you.
Thank you, Warwick. To start with logistics in France, we started two years ago with two different networks, one totally for Casto, the other for Brico, with a lot of external spaces, additional spaces. We have a very clear program. First of all, with better forecasting, managing our logistics efficiency. We have already reduced by 13% our square meters, we consider there are clearly further jobs to do in the coming 12 months. As I said, we consider in the coming 12 months this should be fixed and done. We consider as well for part of the business that we call cross-docking. Cross-docking is when you have a flow of merchandise directly from supplier to your DC, those pallets are redirected directly to store with no stocking in the DC.
That's very efficient way of working, and we can combine Casto and Brico together on this field. Clearly, we are confident that on logistic by good practices, combining sometime the network of the two banners, we have efficiency to notice in the coming 12 months. On inflation, when you're a retailer, inflation is probably part of your life. We are organized for it. First of all, remind you, we consider ourself as a mass market retailer, even though a discount retailer in some field, therefore price index is our number one priority. I'm happy to say that today all across the group, especially if you take B&Q and Screwfix, but really all across our different markets, we have a very good price index versus peers. We are looking at that more or less on a weekly basis. We have as well eight sourcing offices across the world.
Very early on we can feel the trends, talking to suppliers. We have decided early end of 2020 and early 2021 to adjust our forecast to plan for growth for 2021. Very early this year, we have decided to buy additional containers and therefore, even though we have slightly lower availability of product than a normal year, we have a better availability in July than we had in January.
Maybe, Warwick, if I can add some of the other initiatives that we have in France. As you can imagine, we've got a company-wide program, but France is very much part of that. Supply chain is one of the elements we've been touching, but there are many more. Just to mention a few, we're trialing SCOs in France, also in some other entities, but that should be out.
Self-checkouts. Yeah.
Self-checkouts. Thank you, Thierry. That will be a good initiative in terms of productivity. With an improved supply chain also comes better logistics and better stock health. We've seen quite a good movement in terms of the overall stock provisions, but also in some areas like shrinkage. GNFR always is a constant and, for example, we did a point of sale tender in France, which had some very good results. Overall, areas such as IT and telecom, again, re-tendered and bringing through benefits. It's always difficult to pinpoint any one point, but there's quite a raft of initiatives that we're working on that are delivering the benefits.
Okay. Let's go to Adam, please.
Hey, good morning. Three questions, if I may. Firstly, you talked about younger customers. Can you just give us some examples of what you're doing to engage with these younger customers who might be looking at DIY more than they were? From your in-store data, you talked about surveys with younger customers. Is your credit card data and things showing the same thing, that younger customers are continuing to buy more products? Secondly, you didn't really talk much about market share. It's a great performance. Was it market share gains across the different territories? Thirdly, given what you know now, do you see there's any fundamental reason for a difference in EBIT margin between France and the U.K.? Thanks.
Thank you, Adam. Maybe I start with the first two question, we leave to Bernard the third one. Yes, we are working on how to engage more proactively with this younger generation. I think there's a lot around learning new skills. They are really keen to learn new skills. Online with more diverse social medias, we are now proactively bringing new skills to them, and that's a key priority as well for the coming months and years. We have a lot of data. We have a high now online participation. We have loyalty cards. We can use some credit card data, and we as well are running regular surveys. All that show that we have a high retention so far from the customer we acquired in 2020. Again, we are not dream to keep 100% of them, but we are pretty happy with the retention.
On market share, to comment first on the U.K., there is no formal, I would say, market share standard for the U.K., but when we look at BRC, we have panel like GfK, we have Barclaycard data, obviously we have the report of our competitor. When you look at B&Q and Screwfix, they are clearly outperforming the market and winning the past months, and we are happy with that. I would say it's true for our DIY customer and the trade. France, we are looking at Banque de France data, like probably many of you. Again, for H1, we are very happy with the competitive position. Even if you look at the month of August, I think we are outperforming the market in August, both on a one year and a two year basis.
I would say very happy with the improvement on market share.
Yes, France, the trick as you see is really getting your operating leverage right. You see with increased sales, things go a lot better. We had a ROS of 5.3%, up 220 basis points, and that's what we're going to focus on. I think it's been our mantra since the beginning. The key is to increase sales to get that productivity on your base. We'll continue on that trend, sometimes investing in gross margin where it's needed. Having the cost initiatives I just mentioned, but first and foremost, having that operating leverage that we need in the French business. There's more headroom to go, but we're not guiding on any specific number.
All right. Thank you very much. Let's go to Richard.
Thank you. Morning, guys. Can I ask a couple on Poland, just to sort of switch tack a little bit. What is your sort of thoughts around sort of long-term store footprint now for Casto in Poland and I guess Screwfix plans as well? Also on Poland, what sort of underlying OpEx inflation are you guys seeing at the moment, sort of excluding the impact of new space and so on? Thank you.
Yeah. Thank you, Richard. I start with the store footprint. Maybe Bernard, you comment on the cost topic. We are number one in the market and recent survey on brand awareness, on NPS, satisfaction CSAT show that we keep our very strong position. I said in previous call that we have been probably a bit shy for a few years on our expansion plans. Last year, we opened 3 stores. Now the plan is to open seven this year. We feel we will be able to open more next year. In Poland, I would not really qualify the store as big boxes. The average size is around 7,000-8,000 sq m. We feel it's the right size. We believe that we still have probably two, three years of additional expansion on this kind of store, 7,000-8,000 sq m, but it will go to an end.
Therefore, we have opportunities in more what we call medium box, around 4,000 sq m. We started to open more medium box in Poland this year. That's the plan for the coming years because you have a lot of smaller cities, the market is not saturated. As in the other part of the group, we want to be able to operate compact stores, so more around 1,000 sq m. That's more for urban environment. We feel really in Poland with great profit, great return on capital, we really have opportunities ahead of us. On trade, first of all, in the Polish store, about 25% of the sales are already trade, which is very good. We really believe there is further opportunities on trade, starting with our big boxes and how we can deal with the trade inside the big box in Poland.
I must say that across the group, we consider trade is an opportunity, and we know that our American peers are performing better than us. We can learn, and we feel a TradePoint in the U.K., but across the group, there are opportunities for us on trade, yeah.
Yeah. Yes, on inflation, you're right. Poland is higher inflation than U.K. and France, but it also has been, and continues to be. Obviously, that is reflected then in the wider market in terms of the pricing and the positioning that happens there.
Let's go to Simon.
Hi. Three for you. Can you just talk a little bit about what you've seen from Screwfix in France so far in the, whatever it is, five months it's been open? Can you just talk a little bit about the cost and the accounting of the 9,000 people who you've issued those shares to, as to how that kind of flows through the OpEx during the first half? Just how far out do you feel confident around demand from your trade surveys and things? Are we talking kind of confidence through till year-end or beyond that into the spring?
Thank you, Simon. I start with Screwfix. We have started in April, pure online proposition, really starting to understand the market. Today, I can report that, let's say, every week, we see growth. One of the several key areas as well, we keep increasing our ranges. We are every month increasing the number of products. We are increasing our search. At the beginning, we did not really push Google search or this kind of advertising, we are now increasing gradually our advertising and improving our, let's say, IT operations. We see growth in number of customer, in values. One of the key things is our B2Bs are really French people. It's not only British people living in France. That could be a critical point. That's really trades people in France that are buying with us. Overall, really good progress.
There is a lot ahead of us, but that's really according to plan. A few words on demand. With Screwfix, we are running weekly surveys, and we're asking the same question more or less every week to trade. Are you busy? Are you busy in two months? How do you see five months, et cetera? We see today trade people being very busy in our surveys. At least for the coming couple of months, in the trade in the U.K., we feel we are pretty confident. Another indication is, if you want to install a kitchen today, you may have to wait a few weeks because difficult to find fitters. All that show the tension in the market. On this field, we are confident. On DIY, you saw the quarter to date at plus 16 on 1% up to now.
Again, it's very strong. I will not say anything in the short-term. You saw our guidance for the second half. It's very strong guidance in our views. It's more the medium-term. We believe that the trend I mentioned, more working from home, I think everybody in this room probably is convinced that we'll have more working from home. We are happy to have retained a good part of the new customer we acquired last year. We see the housing markets, and we as well are working on our side on what is green renovation. That's another area for the medium-term, and we believe it's supportive for us. Again, in the medium-term, we are pretty feel that there are supporting trends. Maybe Bernard have to have the share plan.
You don't want to answer the accounting question?
No.
No? Good. I'll cover it. The accounting is on an accruals basis. Basically, the program started in November last year. It will vest in July of 2022. It's based kind of month by month basis. It's absorbed by the banners, and let's say it's not a humongous amount if you spread it out over all of the banners.
We got to go to Pam, so just give it a second.
Thank you very much. It's Pam from Morgan Stanley. I have three questions, please. Number one is about margins, and I'll be asking both near-term margin and medium to long-term. In the short-term, I know you mentioned the need to balance between the maintaining the competitive pricing, perhaps with promotion and also with higher cost. My question is, given the demand is very strong, particularly in the U.K. and France with the building activities, can you push quite a lot of that through? What do you think the market is doing? In terms of medium-term or long-term, you talk about new, Own Exclusive Brand ranges, which obviously is good for margin. You talk about e-commerce, which again, should be good for margin, too.
Can you give us some guidance on where do you see these new initiatives penetration would be in three or five years' time, therefore, what is the margin implication? Number two question is follow-up from the Screwfix France. How many more stores are you planning to open? What are the startup costs are you expecting? Any commentary you could give in comparison with Tool stations development in France. Number three is Poland. Very shortly, I know that you intend to open more physical stores. A question here is, we also know that in Poland, online is doing really well, in particular with the likes of Allegro and Amazon. Can you talk to us about, again, your strategy in Poland and why physical store is so important for you? Thank you.
Thank you, Pam. Great question. I will try to answer fast and together with Bernard. Just on price, on prices, inflation, and on margin, I will let Bernard comment further. Again, to be honest, inflation is part of a retailer life. That's topic number one, and topic number two is we consider ourself as a discounter, so first priority is price index. You know you have your pricing routine. It's high on our agenda. Personally, I have that on my desk every week for the group. We know where we are, but starting with price index, and because we have When you are in China, in Vietnam, in Central Europe, very early on, you have the small signal on inflation, so you're able to manage it, to talk to suppliers, to buy.
Therefore, you see our set of results for H1 with a good gross margin. At the same time, to give you another anecdote, I think we have had Which? survey in the U.K., B&Q is number one for price. Go ahead, Bernard.
On the margin short-term and long-term, in the short-term, if you look at the first half, that was exceptional. We're up 100 basis points for pricing. We had some benefits in supply and logistics. The Russia margin, which was dilutive, is out. If we then look at what's going to happen in H2, we think we're going to do a little bit more promo, also in support of sales. There, here and there are some investments we want to do in areas like logistics, which may depress the margin. I think for the year as a whole, we would be looking to be slightly ahead of the prior year. In the longer term, it's always the puts and takes under the banner of we want to push the like-for-like sales. OEB and increase in OEB share will help.
We also are actively negotiating with our key international suppliers to make sure we get the best prices there. Supply and logistics, which is a constant and trying to be more efficient. That's all on the plus side. On the other side, we want to continue to trade, do promotions. It's puts and takes. We're not guiding to a specific area because ultimately, we look at the absolute margin that we generate in the combination of the margin rate and the like-for-like sales we generate.
On Screwfix in France, first of all, to follow up on the question of Simon, we are confident now that the store should be a success in France. We have learned from Ireland. We have as well studied our peers in France that you mentioned, and we consider it's interesting. Learning from those area, we consider it will be the right time for us to open stores in 2022. For Screwfix, what is critical when you start to operate stores is to have a distribution center and not to spread your store across a large geography. You can expect us to have some kind of distribution center and to start in some of the region. You can guess I will not tell you more because it's not only for you, but as well our competitors in France.
I would not tell you more on regions, timing, number of stores, because I think it's too early stages. On Poland, you're right that it's a great country for online. What we did already in the past months first is to have more store hubs. Now because of the geography of Poland, every store is a hub and delivering an area around stores and to allow us to operate faster, to a faster delivery. We are operating in 1-hour click and collect in Poland. Poland is a country that is very special because it rely a lot on lockers. It's one of the European countries where the number of lockers is the most developed. It's really a habit. We did already test last year on lockers, and we were happy. We are currently rolling out 4,000 lockers in Poland.
At last, we have decided to invest more on technology. We have inside the group a technology stack called NexGen. It's a standard stack. It has been rolled out in France, in the U.K. We are currently rolling out NexGen in Poland. We are expecting NexGen to be ready between Q1 and Q2 2022. There is another area that is the same for the group that I just mentioned. We continue to explore what could be a marketplace for us. We have not made any decision. We consider it an important question and we continue to look at it. It is a key question for all our markets, including in Poland.
Just to give you one stat on Poland, the online penetration is about 7%, that's three and a half times what it was two years ago. Great progress, obviously more to go.
I think we've got our last question from the floor.
Sorry, just to develop on your last comment on marketplaces. You've already got, obviously, the services marketplace, but do you see any particular product areas where a marketplace would benefit Kingfisher and where you maybe feel you're not as competitive as you might be, just even with your OEB and other things, and where a marketplace would really help?
Yeah. Our general strategy on online is around speed and choice. Speed, you see where we are with more click and collect, more last mile delivery, and just a few second comment on Screwfix Sprint. I think we are probably the only non-food retailer in the world that is able to deliver home in one hour. To be honest, in the test we are doing, we are even able probably to do a bit better than that in many, many cases. That's very impressive what Screwfix is doing on speed. On choice, again, no decision has been made, we are looking at that. On products, when you have such large brands and traffic, well, you could consider if it could bring value to you to enlarge the choices on some categories.
We feel DIY could be, let's say, categories we could look at overall, but we are still thinking about it. No decision has been made. It's very early stages.
Okay. With no more questions from the floor, I'm going to open up the call, the lines for any of the analysts dialing in.
Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please signal by pressing star then one on your telephone keypad. We will pause for a moment to assemble the queue. Thank you. The first question is from Anne Critchlow from Societe Generale. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Thank you. My question is about the installation services and how that's helping to drive conversion, what you've seen so far. How excited are you about installation as a sales driver for the future? Could you talk about any challenges you have on, say, monitoring quality and ensuring quality, et cetera? Thank you.
Thank you, Anne. It's a great question. I think first of all on the business, we clearly see today at B&Q, after having relaunched our installation services for kitchen, that first of all you are able to sell more. You have extended ranges, extended categories you could sell when you are talking to a customer on kitchen. Another technical thing we discover, for example, is that if a customer want a credit, if he's able to have altogether the cost of the installation, the cost of your kitchen in the credit proposition, it helps. All that are critical thing to develop the basket and overall we are very happy with the basket, with the profit, with all the program of B&Q. On quality, it's very much a question of model and execution. In the past, we had own colleagues doing installation and managed centrally.
In fact, we did exactly the opposite. We are using third party, and it's managed locally. Therefore, you have a small number of fitters, of trade people managed by a store team, creating strong relationship. Today we are very happy with the result. I don't see emerging issues of quality on delays on services. I think we found a very good model.
Thank you.
Maybe just one comment on services, if I'm on the mic as well. I think it's an area that is critical for us. We're speaking about installation. We have new design tool. We are investing on new virtual design tool, better technology. You saw as well that B&Q is trialing tool hire. We are as well same kind of test in France. We are renting trucks, renting vans, so there are large series of services that could be added to our product proposition. It's important for us.
Thank you. Just as a reminder, if you do have a question, it is just star then one on your telephone keypad now. There's no other any further questions from the telephone. I will hand back now to Majid Nazir there. Please go ahead.
Thank you very much, operator. Can I just check if there are any final questions from the floor here? All right, Paul. Sorry, just wait second, Paul.
Hi. Thank you. Paul Rossington, HSBC. Just you talk about a robust housing market outlook, but if you look at the lead indicator stats for U.K. or France, they are volatile at best. There's reasons for that, obviously, in the U.K., but they do appear to have dropped off more recently. I know you talk about there being a 12-18 month benefit of the housing market transaction activity going forward, but how are you looking at housing volumes in the various markets where you operate? If there were to be a more sustained drop-off in housing market activity, what would be your strategic response to that? Thank you.
Let me start for the data as Bernard will give you additional data. First of all, what we see from our customer survey, Paul, is that large number of people after COVID, and you know that from many surveys, they want larger spaces, they are looking for outdoor spaces. We strongly see through our survey that across Europe it's a trend, and we do believe it will stay with us for a while. The second thing we learn from surveys, clearly, when you move, well, you are a super good customer for our businesses. You want probably a new kitchen, new bathroom, or you have general DIY job to do. It's a period of time when you see clearly a peak in the spending. On the data, on the short-term versus medium-term, I leave it to Bernard.
I give you the numbers, but you're right. They're a little bit backward-looking, but if you look at the last 12 months in Q2, the housing transactions in the U.K. were still up 25%. I think if I look at Q1 in France, it was up 7%, so it's still very strong. The other element is prices are up, and typically what we see if you've got more value in your home, you also take better care of it. I think those will continue. If you see drop-off, if we look at far back in history, that if there's a little bit less transaction, the spend does move to more instead of some of the improvements, more of the repair, the upkeep, even if they're less transactions for spend on DIY. People do spend then a little bit more on just keeping it up.
Just a final check for any questions. Excellent. I think that is covered. Let me now pass back to Thierry for some concluding remarks.
Thank you. Thank you, Maj. Simply very happy to see all of you finally in a room and some time to see new faces. Again, we are happy with this set of results. You see the business is in a good place and therefore clearly for us is continuing to invest for growth, find new growth opportunities that will ultimately deliver better profit. Very happy to be with you today and happy to keep in touch in the coming days and weeks. Thank you, everyone. Thank you, Maj.