Kingfisher names French DIY boss Véronique Laury as new chief executive

B&Q owner Kingfisher has named Véronique Laury as its new chief executive, taking to five the number of female bosses at FTSE 100 companies.

Laury, 49, who is based in Lille as head of Kingfisher's French business, Castorama, has worked at the company for 11 years, including spells as commercial director for B&Q and for the wider group.

She will take over from Sir Ian Cheshire, who steps down in January after seven years at the helm, but said she had not decided whether to move to London and could split her time between the UK and France.

She joins Moya Greene at Royal Mail, Carolyn McCall at easyJet, Alison Cooper at Imperial Tobacco and Liv Garfield at Severn Trent in leading of one of Britain's 100 biggest public companies. There have never been more than five FTSE 100 chief executives.

After studying politics and law at the Institut de Sciences Politiques in Paris, Laury joined French DIY retailer Leroy Merlin in 1988 and has stayed in the sector. She lists horse riding and home renovation as her interests and has overhauled three houses.

The mother of three said she did not expect any culture shock from taking over at a UK company.

"I know the business, I know the industry and I know the people. We [Laury and Cheshire] have been working together or not so closely according to the type of roles I have had.

"We are not an Anglo Saxon company; we are an international company. From my experience at B&Q I don't think there are that many differences. You have to respect the people and from a leadership point of view you do what you say."

The change took analysts by surprise because Cheshire had shown no signs of leaving and many saw B&Q's boss, Kevin O'Byrne, as his successor.

Cheshire said Kingfisher needed a boss for five years as it revamps computer systems, expands in new markets and absorbs its Mr Bricolage acquisition in France.

"From my point of view, 12 years [as chief executive] was not going to be part of my plan. This was us sitting down and saying there are a number of things coming up. You can always think of another two or three years you can do but it's time to hand over to someone who can take the next few years forward."

B&Q, Kingfisher's biggest business, has struggled to capitalise on the revival in the UK housing market while its French arm has been hit by France's economic woes. Kingfisher shares underperformed the FTSE 100 by almost 30% in the past year but were the biggest gainers on Wednesdayyesterday, rising 4% to 319.6p.

Group pre-tax profit for the six months ended 2 August fell 6.5% to £375m. Stripping out exceptional items, profit was flat at £364m, slightly ahead of City forecasts. Cheshire said that, after a grim June and July, business in France had improved.

Underlying UK & Ireland sales rose 4.4% helped by a 12% rise in sales at Screwfix, Kingfisher's business aimed at tradesmen. B&Q like-for-like sales rose 3.2% after it cut prices on 3,500 items. Profits in France were unchanged, adjusted for currency movements, and sales at Laury's Castorama business remained flat.

Keith Bowman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, said: "Today's announcements bring some welcome relief for investors. The new chief executive faces no easy task – France remains at the centre of the eurozone's difficulties [and] a recent slowing in UK house prices could take the shine off B&Q."

Cheshire said the group looked outside the company for his replacement but decided that Laury was the best choice. He said she had done a good job at Castorama given the dire state of the French market.