B&M hikes final dividend after surprisingly strong lockdown trading

Discount retailer B&M upped its final dividend on Thursday amid unexpectedly strong trading throughout the Covid-19 lockdown.

B&M said it had experienced increased demand for gardening and DIY products during Britain's recent run of hot weather, leading the group to raise its final dividend from 4.9p in 2019 to 5.4p in 2020.

However, the FTSE 250-listed firm cautioned that government-mandated social distancing measures had resulted in increased operating costs and stated that it was unclear as what for the rest of the year would hold.

In the year ended 28 March, revenues jumped 16.5% to £3.8bn, while pre-tax profits were up 3.2% at £252m. Like-for-like revenues were up 3.3% and underlying earnings grew 8.7% to £319.8m.

Net debt was slashed from £610.9m to £347.5m.

B&M said progress was made in France, with 19 Babou out of 101 Babou stores now trading as "B&M". However, the group said controlled testing of trading at the converted stores was interrupted by Covid-19 closures in the country.

As of 0900 BST, B&M shares were down 6.63% at 354.70p.