30th May 2018 08:23
LONDON (Alliance News) - FTSE 250-listed discount retailer B&M European Value Retail SA said on Wednesday it saw a rise in profit and revenue in its recently ended financial year with new store openings within the period.
Pretax profit for the year to the end of March 31 rose by 25% to GBP229.3 million from GBP182.9 million the year before, on revenue that reached GBP2.98 billion, a 22% increase from GBP2.43 billion.
B&M attributed the growth to its new store openings, with 47 new stores opened in the UK and 12 new stores opened in Germany. The 47 new stores in the UK contributed GBP128.4 million of revenue in the year alone. B&M now has 841 stores in the UK and 86 in Germany.
Another 45 new stores in the UK are planned to open in the current financial year.
Like-for-like sales growth in the UK quickened to 4.7% in its recent financial year from 3.1% the year before. For the first quarter of the new year so far, there has been a 3.1% like-for-like sales growth in the UK excluding the Easter week.
B&M has recommended a final dividend of 4.8 pence per share, taking the total payout to 7.2p, up 24% from 5.8p the prior year.
"B&M has delivered another set of strong results by doing what we do best, which is providing great value week-in, week-out on the things customers buy regularly for their homes and families. None of our success could have been achieved without the hard work and dedication of the thousands of B&M colleagues across the group and on behalf of the board I would like to thank them for all their efforts," said Chief Executive Simon Arora.
"The B&M model is highly relevant for the current difficult economic environment, with its strong position in the value and convenience areas of retailing where physical stores are winning," Arora added.
Shares in B&M European Value Retail were down 1.5% at 367.60 pence on Wednesday.
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