Poundland plans massive expansion with hundreds of new jobs as sales rise 15%
BLACK Country-based discount retailer Poundland has announced plans to expand the business in order to create jobs and capitalise on strong growth figures.
The Willenhall group, Europe’s largest single price value retailer, has seen full year sales for the year ending March 31, 2013 rise 15% to £880m (2012: £765m), with profit up to £35.7m (2012: £32m).
Gross margin was up 14.7% to £323.4m (2012: £282.3m) and underlying EBITDA rose 15.4% to £45.4m (2012: £39.4m).
The firm said the year had seen strong growth for its Dealz business in Ireland, with 17 new stores being opened to take the portfolio to 26 in total.
Jim McCarthy, Poundland chief executive, said the format had proved so robust that it would now be used as the model to launch the business into Continental Europe.
The Dealz operation traded profitably in its first year and McCarthy said the performance was significant because it demonstrated the ability of the business to quickly establish a successful brand in a new territory.
“We intend to further strengthen our market presence with additional openings during the coming (current) year,” he said in his annual report.
“We are continuing to research the opportunities for this exciting initiative and will tailor our offer according to local markets.
“What is clear to us is that customers across the globe understand value for money and we are confident that when we launch Dealz in Continental Europe it will be successful and offer the group substantial future growth opportunities.”
He said the company also planned to continue its UK expansion; a strategy that has seen the creation of 5,000 new jobs during the last three years. The company currently has more than 460 stores in the UK.
“Due to our strong pipeline of new stores we expect to deliver the unique Poundland retail proposition to a further three quarters of a million customers each week by the end of next year,” he said.
“We are planning to open at least 50 new stores during the next financial year, including a number of Dealz stores in Ireland. As a result we estimate that we will create a further 1,800 jobs.”
