Discount retailer B&M posts high-end results after a record year of expansion
Discount retailer B&M boasted strong preliminary results for the year today, after a year of record store openings.
Group revenues were up 23.6 per cent, up to £2.04bn from £1.65bn.
Pre-tax profits jumped to £154.5m, a rise of 150 per cent.
The numbers come after a year of expansion for the retailer. The company opened 79 new stores across the UK, taking the total number of stores to 499 at the end of March. There are a further 50 new stores planned for 2017.
The business is also set to expand on the continent; 19 new store openings are planned in Germany.
Shareholders will receive a 41 per cent increase in the total dividend per share of 4.8p. There will also be a special dividend of 10p per share, worth £100m, paid in July.
The results come after the company lost its chief executive, Karen Hubbard, to Card Factory, at the beginning of the year.
Simon Arora, B&M's current chief executive, said: "B&M's disruptive pricing, unique sourcing model and range discipline has continued to drive our business forward to win market share.
"More people are able to access our stores as a result of our continuing and successful new store programme.
"We now regularly serve 3.3 million customers on average each week. As a result of a record 79 new stores opened in the financial year, we have now passed the milestone of 500 UK stores."