B & M European Value Retail S.A. (LON:BME) has made a “solid start” to its new financial year, with revenue surging 21% in the opening few months.
The company said its disruptive value model, which sees it sell everything from paddling pools to tonic water at steeply-discounted prices, “continues to prove highly attractive” to UK shoppers.
Sales jumped to £738.9mln in the three months to the end of June, compared with £649.2mln in the same period a year earlier.
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Some of that growth was driven by 12 new stores that opened during the quarter, although like-for-like growth was also strong at 3.9%.
Unlike some of its bricks-and-mortar peers that are having to close shops, B&M plans to continue its rapid expansion, targeting 45 new stores over the next 12 months.
“The group has made a solid start and we are on track with our plans for the year as a whole, with a strong performance in the B&M UK business and continued implementation of our planned change programmes in Germany and France, with a continued focus on resolving the warehousing and logistics challenges in Jawoll,” said chief executive Simon Arora.
“B&M had its third consecutive record Easter trading period with sales of seasonal products and Homewares performing particularly well and Heron Foods has traded solidly too.
“The transitional changes to the product offers in Jawoll and Babou are now taking shape, as we apply the B&M model to those businesses. We look forward to the remainder of the year with confidence.”
Shares were up 0.7% to 359.5p on Wednesday morning.