Bargain hunters boost B&M sales as former Wilko stores do brisk trade

Bargain hunters have boosted sales at B&M, with the discounter pledging to open 45 new British stores this year.

The FTSE 100-listed retailer said group revenue rose 10.1 per cent to £5.5bn over the last year.

At home, B&M’s UK division, where the group does most of its trading, saw sales rise 8.5 per cent to £4.41bn.

B&M has already opened 47 new stores over the past year, having bought some of Wilko’s closed stores, which it said were “delivering above expectations”.

The company’s French division also saw a 19.2 per cent rise to £514m, while its Heron Foods division saw sales rise 15.3 per cent to £560m.

In a full-year trading update, covering the 53 weeks to March 30, 2024, Liverpool-based B&M said growth had benefited from an extra week of trading and an early Easter compared to 2023. .

Alex Russo, chief executive of B&M, said: ‘“The business and team are well prepared for the year ahead, our portfolio remains on track to open no less than 45 B&M stores in the UK in each of the next two financial years and our French and Heron businesses continue to demonstrate significant profitable growth potential.”

A key part of the retailer’s success lies in its ability to source its huge range of products directly from B&M’s own Asia-based purchasing operation, which it says gives it an advantage in design and value.

After Wilko’s collapse last summer, B&M bought 51 of the homewares chain’s stores from administrators in a £13m deal.

Then, in November 2023, B&M said it hoped to open at least 125 more stores across the UK over the next three years.

At the same time, the company expanded its long-term domestic store goal from 950 to 1,200.

The company operates around 717 stores in the UK under the B&M brand, as well as 122 French outlets and more than 330 stores under the ‘Heron Foods’ and ‘B&M Express’ names.

Despite the positive results, b&m actions They were down 1.8 per cent at 496.50 pence in Tuesday morning trading and have fallen 11 per cent this year.