B&M reports ‘strong’ performance as revenue rises over 25%

Budget retailer B&M has reported a “strong” start to the financial year as it saw a 27.7% increase in group revenues to over £1.1bn during the period from 29 March 2020 to 27 June 2020.

B&M said the strong start to the new financial year can be attributed to its value-led model and “convenient” out of town locations that have continued to prove “highly attractive” to customers.

B&M UK sales revenue for the 13 week period also increased by 33.7% to £987.8m (2019: £738.9m), with like-for-like sales growth of 26.9% in the quarter against a prior year comparable of 3.9%.

It added that B&M UK has 656 stores trading, versus 632 trading at the end of Q1 in FY20, with no new stores opened in the quarter due to the impact of Covid-19

It added that it has also seen steady recovery in like-for-like customer count over the quarter after the initial decline during lockdown, alongside significantly increased average transaction value versus the prior year.

Revenue for the quarter in its French business, Babou, was £54m, including like-for-like
growth of 32.0% for the comparable period since reopening on 11 May 2020.

Simon Arora, chief executive, said: “The group has made a strong start to the financial year, with a particularly strong performance in our UK businesses, and progress now resumed in France after an 8 week closure period.

“However, as outlined at our preliminary results for the last financial year announced on 11 June 2020, there are a great deal of uncertainties ahead. The safety of our colleagues and customers remains our priority whilst we work hard to continue to meet our customers’ needs in these difficult times.”