B&M European opens 17 stores in quarter but LFL sales fall flat

Group sales rose 21.5% to £554.8m on a reported basis over the 13 weeks ending 25 June, or 20.6% at constant currencies. UK sales under the B&M brand were up 21.3% and Jawoll in Germany was up 23.5%.

However, UK like-for-like sales, which excludes stores that have traded for less than 14 months, were flat on a reported basis and up 1.7% on an underlying basis, which excludes for 12 months stores that are within a three mile radius of a new B&M store opening.

In the last full year UK like-for-like sales had grown 0.3% and 2.4% on an underlying basis, down from 4.4% in 2015.

The FTSE 250 group said the quarter had a slow start due to the UK's unseasonal weather and the timing of Easter compared to last year, but rebounded "sharply" in May and had been "stable" since, allowing for weather effects on outdoor and garden product sales.

With the pound having been crunched by the Brexit vote, directors were satisfied with the currency hedging put in place through to the end of the Christmas 2017 period, though noted that ongoing exchange rate volatility may affect gross margin in the 2018 financial year.

Against what is a fiercely competitive industry backdrop, chief executive Simon Arora assured that "for B&M it remains 'business as usual' despite broader general economic uncertainty".

He added that the "outstanding value for money proposition" put the group in a good position to continue to win market share, while the "well-defined and clear strategy" of store openeings was proving to continue driving drive top-line growth.

At the end of the quarter, B&M had 511 UK stores trading, against it UK store target of 850, with 50 net openings expected this financial year.