// B&M profits drop after “disappointing” first half performance
// Adjusted pre-tax profit dropped by 2.8% to £96m
// B&M’s UK business saw like-for-like sales increase by 3.7%
B&M has recorded a drop in profits after a “disappointing” first half performance at its Jawoll business in Germany.
In the 26 weeks to 29 September, the value retailer’s adjusted pre-tax profit dropped by 2.8 per cent to £96 million.
Group pre-tax profit plummeted by 70.5 per cent to £32.2 million.
READ MORE: B&M defies high street gloom with sales & like-for-like growth
Group revenues increased by 12.4 per cent to £1.76 billion during the period.
Meanwhile, B&M’s UK business saw like-for-like sales increase by 3.7 per cent in the period while revenue increased by 13.8 per cent.
The retailer is now reviewing its Jawoll operations in Germany after weak performance resulted in an impairment charge of £59.5 million and half-year results that fell short of expectations.
B&M blamed the decision on “disappointing financial performance caused by distribution issues and poor sales”.
“We have delivered a solid overall first half performance driven by our core B&M UK stores business which constitutes 86 per cent of group sales,” B&M chief executive Simon Arora said.
“Our existing stores performed consistently well through the last two quarters, generating half year like-for-likes of 3.7 per cent. The current crop of new stores also achieved especially strong results,” he said.
“We are well placed for the golden quarter in our main B&M UK stores business. Despite the continued uncertainty in the economic environment generally, we are very proud to say that each of the top five store opening days in our history have all been in stores we have opened in the last 12 months.”
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