B&M shares were up 0.8% to 382.9p in early morning trading on Wednesday after the company announced it was on track to hit its FY 2023 EBITDA of £550 million to £600 million in the firm’s Q1 trading update.
B&M announced a 2.2% fall in group revenue on a constant currency basis across the term of £1.16 billion from £1.18 billion, however it pointed out an improving trend over the quarter.
The company reported core B&M UK fascia one-year like-for-like revenue decreased 9.1% for the period.
However, due to exceptionally high sales in April 2021, the firm broke its trading into two separate blocks, with the five week trading period of April 2022 recording a like-for-like revenue slide of 19.1% and the eight week trading throughout May and June noting a like-for-like revenue decline of 1.6%.
B&M said its Herron Foods business performed well across the term, exceeding management expectations with a year-on-year revenue of £113 million against £102 million.
The discounter confirmed its French sector produced strong like-for-like revenue growth with particularly promising returns from its gardening and leisure sectors. The French branch announced a Q1 2023 revenue of £91 million compared to £68 million in Q1 2022.
B&M also launched its online trial in the UK with 1,000 SKUs available for home delivery to customers.
The company announced 1,125 stores across the business against 1,097 the last year, with B&M UK climbing to 705 from 684, France growing to 109 outlets from 105 and Heron Foods rising to 311 compared to 308.