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Third quarter revenue up 5%
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Underlying sales growth in main UK business slows
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Expects 2023/24 earnings of 620-630 mln stg
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To pay 20p special dividend
LONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - British discount chain B&M on Tuesday maintained its full-year profit outlook as it reported a 5.0% rise in revenue over the Christmas quarter, though its growth did slow.
The FTSE 100 group, which sells everything from toys to frozen food and garden furniture, said it still expected full year 2023/24 adjusted EBITDA of 620-630 million pounds ($789-$802 million), up from the 573 million pounds it made in 2022/23.
B&M said in the 14 weeks to Dec. 30, like-for-like revenue growth in its main B&M UK business was 1.2%.
That was a slowdown from growth of 6.2% in the first half. However, B&M said it was a "strong quarter", given the tough prior year comparative numbers.
Separately on Tuesday, industry data showed lacklustre UK retail sales around Christmas, which may add to concerns that the economy has tipped into a mild recession, less than a year before a likely national election.
British shoppers have had to contend with high inflation and the Bank of England raising interest rates to a 15-year high of 5.25% in response to the jump in prices.
In times of restrained consumer spending discount operators tend to do relatively better than mainstream rivals as they have lower cost bases and shoppers become more price sensitive.
In food retailing, Aldi UK and Lidl GB are currently Britain's fastest growing operators, while in air travel Ryanair is outperforming rivals.
Shares in B&M, which at 5.45 billion pounds has a similar market capitalisation to Marks & Spencer, have risen 31% over the last year.
B&M said it was on track to open 76 new stores across the group in the 2023/24 year and also declared a special dividend of 20 pence a share.
"The performance across the Golden Quarter has been pleasing, with strong operational execution," CEO Alex Russo said.
"We are well-positioned for the year ahead." (Reporting by James Davey, Editing by Paul Sandle, Kirsten Donovan)
