BARGAIN HUNTERS BOOST B&M SALES AS FORMER WILKO SHOPS SEE BRISK TRADE

Bargain hunters have boosted sales at B&M, with the discounter committing to opening 45 new British stores this year

The FTSE 100-listed retailer said that group revenue rose by 10.1 per cent to £5.5billion over the past year.

On home turf, B&M's UK division, where the group does the bulk of its trading, saw sales climb 8.5 per cent to £4.41billion.

B&M has already opened 47 new stores over the past year, having bought out some of Wilko's closed shops, which it said were 'performing ahead of expectations'.

The company's French division also saw a 19.2 per cent rise to £514million whilst its Heron Foods division saw sales soar by 15.3 per cent to £560million.

In a full-year trading update, covering the 53 weeks to 30 March 2024, Liverpool-based B&M said growth had benefitted from an extra week of trading and an early Easter compared to 2023.

Alex Russo, chief executive of B&M, said: 'The business and team are well set up for the year ahead, our pipeline remains on track to open not less than 45 UK B&M stores in each of the next two financial years and our French and Heron businesses continue to demonstrate significant profitable growth potential.'

A key part of the retailer's success lies in the retailer's ability to source its huge range of merchandise directly from B&M's own Asia-based buying operation, which it says gives it an edge on design and value. 

After Wilko's collapse last summer, B&M snapped up 51 of the homeware chain's stores from administrators in a £13million deal.

Then, in November 2023, B&M said it expected to launch at least 125 more shops across the UK over the coming three years.

At the same time, the business expanded its long-term domestic store target from 950 to 1,200.

The company operates around 717 UK shops under the B&M brand, as well as 122 French outlets and more than 330 stores under the 'Heron Foods' and 'B&M Express' names.

Despite the positive results, B&M shares were down 1.8 per cent to 496.50p in Tuesday morning trading and have fallen 11 per cent this year.

2024-04-16T12:20:46Z dg43tfdfdgfd