Shares in Kingfisher were up on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading ahead of the group's preliminary results, expected tomorrow.

In its fourth quarter update in February, the owner of Britain's B&Q stores said it expected pre-tax profit to be at the higher end of management forecasts of £661 million to £672 million.

While fourth quarter trading in Britain and Ireland was hit somewhat by the cold weather in December, the group did rather better in its international operations. The group's Castorama stores in France expanded during the period and also reported reasonably good sales.

During the year the group has attempted to make itself more cost efficient by cutting back on advertising, making buying efficiencies and general cost cutting.

Keith Bowman, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said ahead of the results, "A consensus pre-tax profit figure of £666.54 million is currently forecast, with opinion on the same consensus basis currently denoting a buy."

By 17:00 shares in Kingfisher were up 0.58 per cent on the FTSE 100 to 243.80 pence per share.

FTSE