B&M enjoys 'solid' first quarter, announces slew of store openings
B&M European Value Retail reported a "solid" start to the year on Wednesday as it achieved double-digit revenue growth in the first quarter and unveiled expansion plans.
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI)
526.40p
14:05 23/04/24
FTSE 250
19,700.00
14:05 23/04/24
FTSE 350
4,417.08
14:05 23/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,371.50
14:05 23/04/24
General Retailers
3,910.25
14:04 23/04/24
The retailer said group revenue increased 21.4% to £967.7m, with core B&M UK revenue growth of 13.8% including like-for-like growth of 3.9%, which it said reflected its new store opening programme and continued sales growth.
Revenue from Heron Foods increased by 8.1% to £93.1m, while Jawoll's revenue contribution increased by 1.9% to £63.1m and newly acquired Babou's first contribution was £72.6m.
The opening of 12 new B&M stores and six new Heron Foods locations helped to drive revenue higher and left B&M with a total of 632 trading locations and Heron Foods with 287.
The FTSE company also announced plans to open 50 new B&M stores and between 15 and 20 Heron Foods stores during the remainder of its financial year, leaving it on track for 45 net new stores in the year as a whole.
Simon Arora, chief executive of B&M, said: "B&M had its third consecutive record Easter trading period with sales of seasonal products and Homewares performing particularly well and Heron Foods has traded solidly too. The transitional changes to the product offers in Jawoll and Babou are now taking shape, as we apply the B&M model to those businesses. We look forward to the remainder of the year with confidence."
B&M European Value Retail's shares were up 1.26% at 361.60p at 0903 BST.