B&M half-year sales rise as Back to Basics strategy starts to deliver
B&M has reported first half like-for-like sales growth across the group, with a stronger second quarter in the UK, as its Back to Basics strategy begins to deliver.
In the 26 weeks to 26 September, group revenue rose by 3.6% to £2.8 billion. B&M UK, B&M France and Heron Foods all delivered like-for-like growth.
Subscribe to TRBTotal sales at its UK business rose by 2.4%, with like-for-like sales up 0.4% over the half year. Momentum built throughout the period, with second quarter like-for-like growth of 3.2%. B&M attributed the performance to general merchandise as well as an improvement in FMCG from the first quarter.
Meanwhile, B&M France delivered 13.7% total sales growth, driven by a strong like-for-like performance of +5.9%.
Group adjusted pre-tax profit climbed by 16.5% to £121 million in the period.
Tjeerd Jegen, B&M chief executive, said: “Back to B&M Basics is starting to deliver. Over the past year, we have sharpened our pricing, improved the on-shelf availability of our best-selling brands, revamped our in-store promotions and reduced SKU count across our stores.
“Our goal has been to restore B&M UK to sustainable like-for-like (LFL)2 growth while making everyday life more affordable for customers facing mounting cost-of-living pressures, and our second quarter LFL performance of +3.2% shows the first phase of our strategy is working.
“B&M France delivered another strong quarter, with Q2 LFL sales of +6.5% and a margin similar to B&M UK. B&M France has considerable growth potential as we achieve critical scale there and deepen awareness of our differentiated value proposition with customers.”
