B&M European Value Retail has stated that its half-year adjusted earnings are set to come in well above analysts’ expectations after bumper trading in recent months.
The operator of the B&M and Heron Foods chains in the UK, and Babou in France, is on track to report EBITDA of £250m-270m for the six months to 26 September, against an average analysts’ consensus forecast of £208m.
Earlier this month, the group confirmed that it had made a strong start to its new financial year with the core B&M chain seeing its first-quarter sales rise by 33.7% to £987.8m on the back of extra stores and like-for-like growth of 26.9%.
B&M’s 656 stores in the UK remained open throughout lockdown and the group experienced high demand for gardening and DIY products as people stuck at home found things to do.
B&M said today that it was well-placed to continue to grow profitably in the UK and to develop and prove the proposition in France.
However, the group withheld any forecast for the second half of the year, citing the uncertainty in relation to both the progression of Covid-19 and the economic outlook. B&M said it would provide a more detailed update with its half-year results on 12 November.
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