Annual sales at Liverpool retail giant B&M rise 6.6% to almost £5bn but rising costs see profits fall by 12.6%. Tony McDonough reports

Value retailer B&M says “material cost pressures” caused profits to fall in the year to March 25, 2023, despite a healthy rise in sales.

Stock market-listed B&M, which operates from a headquarters and distribution centre in south Liverpool, is reporting annual sales of just under £5bn. This is 6.6% ahead of last year and 30.7% more than the last pre-pandemic year.

However, adjusted pre-tax profit fell 12.6% to £459m. Chief executive Alejandro Russo said: “There have been major economic headwinds and there has been material cost pressures to deal with.”

ON an upbeat note, he added: “But B&M UK has weathered the difficult environment well and has delivered another excellent year of financial performance.”

B&M, which employs 39,000 people, operates 1,135 stores. This includes 707 UK B&M outlets and 113 B&M stores in France. It also runs 315 Heron frozen food stores in the UK.

In UK B&M stores sales were up 4%. They were up 18.1% at Heron and 22.1% in France. Sales at the UK B&M stores in the first nine weeks of the current financial year are already 8.3% ahead of the same period last year.

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Mr Russo added: “FY23 has been another year of strong underlying progress for B&M and the long-term future looks very positive.

“It has also been a year of planned management transition. Simon Arora has stepped down after 19 years of leading this business and we thank him and wish him well for the future.

“B&M has many years of profitable growth ahead, to be delivered through our four channels of growth (existing B&M UK stores, new B&M UK stores, France and Heron).

“In delivering this growth, B&M will generate cash and compound earnings growth for our shareholders. We are actively responding to the short-term pressure on consumers from the cost-of-living crisis, with a relentless focus on price and value.”