Discount retailer B&M European Value Retail PLC (LON:BME) has delivered its “best-ever” Christmas trading, reporting UK like-for-like sales up 7.2% in its third quarter.
B&M – which also operates in Germany - saw group revenue in the quarter grow by 20.5% at constant currency to £789.1mln, driven by a strong seasonal performance.
As a result, management said it is confident that the group will meet market expectations for adjusted underlying earnings (EBITDA) in the financial year to March 2017
Simon Arora, B&M’s chief executive, said:: “We have delivered our best ever Christmas trading and served over 5.5 million customers in a single week in the UK alone as we continue to gain market share.”
He added: “Our German business Jawoll has also performed well and our first steps towards a faster pace of expansion are going to plan."
In its statement, B&M said: “The stronger like-for-like growth reflects several factors, including strong seasonal product performance, improved in-store standards for customers and the normalisation of service levels from our two new distribution centres, compared with last year.”
At the end of the quarter, B&M UK business was trading from a total of 533 stores, having opened 14 outlets in the last 13 weeks and a net 34 in total during the financial year to date.
In Germany, Jawoll is now trading from 73 stores having opened 7 stores in the third quarter.
In a note to clients this morning, analysts at Liberum analysts noted the group‘s “positive outlook statement.”
Reiterating a ‘buy’ rating on the stock, they said: “We expect the shares to respond well today.”
In early trading, the FTSE 250-listed stock was up 4.7%. or 13.1p at 290.1p.