Revenue climbs to more than £1.6bn for B&M Bargains
LIVERPOOL-based discount retailer B&M Bargains is reporting soaring revenue and profits ahead of its first set of results following its IPO.
Group turnover increased 29.5% to £1.647bn (2014: £1.272bn), and pre-tax profits rose 55% to £135m (2014:£112.7m).
In its preliminary results for the year to March 28, the strong performance was reflected by the company opening 52 stores.
The company also acquired a further 49 through its acquisition of Jawoll, an established and profitable general merchandise discount business in Germany with a similar market positioning to B&M’s. A further 60 stores are set to open in the year ahead., the company said.
Operating cashflow was £152.9m (2014: £114.7m) and net debt reduced to £381m from £432.8m in 2014.
The recommended final dividend of 2.5p per share is to be paid on August 7 (pro rata total dividend for the year 3.4p).
Chief executive Simon Arora said: “For many shoppers across the UK, B&M is now an established part of their regular shopping habits and, in tandem with our strong roll-out programme, this has enabled us to become one of the leaders in the rapid growth of value-led retailing in the UK.
“In the period under review we opened 52 net new stores, bringing the total to 425 limited assortment general merchandise discount stores trading as B&M Bargains and the larger B&M Homestores that we operate across the country today, employing more than 19,000 staff and serving above 2.9 million customers a week.
“We continue to invest in the infrastructure, technology and skills we need to manage our growth in the future and will incur modest additional warehouse costs in support of the accelerated roll-out programme in the year ahead.
“The retail industry remains competitive and a cold May has led to a slow start for Outdoor ranges. Despite this, we remain confident for the year ahead.”
Chairman Sir Terry Leahy said: “It is pleasing to report to shareholders that in B&M’s first year as a public company it has delivered strong increases in sales, profits and cash generation whilst pushing on with rapid store rollout and investing in new infrastructure to support continued growth.”
