© Reuters. Jeffrey Smith
Investing.com — B&M European Value (LON:) shares rose in early trading on Thursday after the discount retailer beat expectations for the holiday season, raising guidance and announcing a special dividend.
The group now expects underlying operating profit to be in the range of £560m to £580m (£1 = $1.201), slightly above the consensus forecast of £557m. There is
As such, we plan to pay £200m through a dividend of 20p per share at the end of January.
B&M, which operates discount stores in the UK and France, said: “In the three months to December, the third quarter of the financial year, revenue increased by 12.3%, thanks to very good performances across all B&Ms. , reached £1,567 million.” UK categories for both grocery and general merchandise. ”
About half of the growth comes from acquisitions and new store openings. Comparable sales were up 6.4%, slightly lagging inflation, suggesting sales fell slightly.
B&M is one of three UK retailers to report better-than-expected figures on Thursday, along with the fashion chain. Next (LON:) and the bakery Greggs (LON:) This is in contrast to the steady flow of negative macroeconomic news in recent months as the UK economy plunged into recession.
The numbers still suggest that B&M is the relative winner.Sales at the smaller French business grew twice as fast, up nearly 25% year-on-year, but still outperformed overall. Less than 10% of earnings, a reminder that pressure on household budgets is by no means limited to the UK.
“Our business ended the quarter well and we will continue to focus on disciplined execution,” said CEO Alex Russo, who took over the role just four months ago.
By 04:00 ET (09:00 GMT), B&M shares were up 2.0%, hitting an eight-month high at the opening of trading on the news.
