Australian Business media experts are asking questions about Bunnings in the UK after owners Wesfarmers revealed in its first quarter sales update that Bunnings United Kingdom and Ireland division had sales of £276 million in the first three months of the financial year, down from £320 million a year earlier.

BUNNINGS has hit a snag. The $700 million UK expansion is looking like a bad idea, with one analyst warning of “disaster” is the headline on news.com.au

Bunnings sustaining big sales losses with Homebase stores reports diysummit.org

Is Wesfarmers about to join a long list of Australian companies have entered the UK economy and been forced to retreat after missteps or worse? asks sharecafe.com.au

In the Wesfarmers 2018 First Quarter Retail Sales Results the company reports:

Total sales for the quarter were £276 million, a decrease of 13.8 per cent on the prior corresponding period. Store-on-store sales decreased 11.9 per cent.

The early trading performance of the first eight Bunnings Warehouse pilots is encouraging, with solid sales uplifts achieved across the pilot group. The coming months will test performance in different seasonal
conditions and BUKI will continue to patiently trial a range of formats, locations, and competitive environments to achieve proof of concept.

Bunnings Group Managing Director Michael Schneider said that, while still early days, the engagement of customers, suppliers, team members, and local communities with the Bunnings stores remains pleasing.
Despite steady sales in core home improvement and garden categories, Homebase’s trading performance relative to the previous comparable period was adversely affected by the significant clearance of
discontinued ranges last year.

“While the performance of Homebase is disappointing, we continue to be encouraged by the performance of the Bunnings pilots. The BUKI team remains focused on stabilising the performance of the Homebase
stores as well as delivering proof of concept for the Bunnings format,” Mr Schneider said.

There were 244 Homebase stores and eight Bunnings stores as at 30 September 2017. A total of 15 to 20 pilot stores are expected to be either trading or nearing completion by 31 December 2017, subject to
relevant approvals.