B&M opened 43 new stores on the increased demand
Bargain store B&M (LON:BME) saw is profits surge throughout the past year as its cheap prices proved to be an attractive proposition to customers during the pandemic.
B&M made an adjusted profit before tax of £540.1m, an increase of 107%, for the year ended in March 2021.
The FTSE 100 company’s total revenues rose by 26% to £4.8bn, while its annual core earnings increased to 83% to £626.4m.
In addition, B&M opened 43 new stores on the increased demand.
Amisha Chohan, equity research analyst at Quilter Cheviot, commented on the company’s strong results during the pandemic.
“B&M is an out-and-out winner from the pandemic, and the fact that is was classified as an essential retailer early on has allowed the business to achieve an exceptional set of results with group sales up 26% and profits up 83% over the year.”
“The group’s good value product offering has clearly resonated with customers, old and new, and its out of town store locations have proved popular.”
Amisha Chohan drew attention to B&M’s prospects of continuing its growth beyond the pandemic.
“After a year of phenomenal growth, and one which arguably won’t be replicated again soon, the question on the minds of investors will be how much will like for like sales and profits fall by this year when competitors start to return to normal operations.”
“Like for like sales in the first nine weeks of this year are down 1%, driven by a pull-forward of gardening demand in April that usually occurs more evenly through the Spring and Summer period,” Chohan said.
B&M shares are down by 2.17% during the morning session on Thursday, while over the past year the value of its stock is up by around 60%.
“Our results reflect the speed at which we responded to the challenges presented by Covid-19, and the strength of our execution,” said Simon Arora, B&M chief executive.
“The core B&M UK business, as an essential retailer, traded throughout the year and welcomed a number of new shoppers, with colleagues working tirelessly to maintain on-shelf availability.”