Discounter B&M Bargains is on track to open more stores next year as it revealed an uptick in revenues and profits thanks to strong UK trading.
The Merseyside-headquartered business has reported a 6.5 per cent rise in revenues to £3.8bn for the year to 28 March 2020.
That’s up from £3.2bn in the previous year.
During the period group pre-tax profit increased by 3.2 per cent to £252m, that’s up from £244.3m in 2019.
The retailer, which recently announced a surge in DIY and gardening sales as locked down households snapped up home improvement tools and products, said it also opened 36 new stores in the period with plans to launch a further 30 stores in 2021.
It said while the rate of openings has been disrupted by the pandemic, it’s long term plan to reach 950 B&M stores in the UK remains unchanged.
CEO Simon Arora said the last financial year has delivered “solid growth” for its B&M UK business and its Heron Foods convenience store business.
“However, so much about our lives has changed so profoundly and so fast as a result of Covid-19 that a financial year which ended only a short time ago already seems a world away,” he said.
“It is an understatement to say that the progress made during the year has been overtaken by recent events.
“The challenges posed by the virus have been beyond anything we have experienced before; they have tested every aspect of the way we do business in recent weeks and I’m pleased to say that B&M is coming through the crisis well because of the strength of the B&M proposition and the way our team has responded to those challenges.
"For that, I express my gratitude to all of my colleagues across the business.”
The group has recommended final dividend increase to 5.4p per share to be paid on 28 September 2020, bringing full year ordinary dividend to 8.1p per share, an increase of 6.6 per cent.
