The owner of Poundland has said its “too early” to consider lowering prices despite easing cost pressures across the group.
Pepco group executive chair Andy Bond told The Times that “while there is easing pressure in some parts of the business, I’m not sure that prices will necessary go down”.
He warned there were still “tailwinds” remaining, such as a rise in minimum wages and heightened fright costs from the ongoing attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
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However, Bond said the group – which also owns Pepco and Dealz – had no plans to raise prices any further.
“Now that we’re into a period where costs have gone down somewhat, the first thing we’re happy to do is to recover our margins, but we can do that without putting prices up. I don’t see any degree of inflation in our business over the next 12 months.”
Poundland ditched its £1 price point in 2019 as it widened its product range and began selling items at a range of prices from 50p to over £5.
Bond said the retailer’s prices had gone up on average by a “single-digit” percentage over the last two to three years, but not “more than 10% cumulatively” since the pandemic.
Pepco reported this week that group sales jumped 11% to £2.73bn on a constant currency basis in the six months to 31 March.
It said comparative sales at Poundland slipped 0.7% over the period, as a positive FMCG performance was wiped out by a weaker showing in clothing and general merchandise following a transition to new Pepco ranges.
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