Profits at B&M more than doubled as its revenue surged during its latest financial year because of a boom in lockdown spending, new figures have confirmed.
The Liverpool-headquartered discount retail giant has reported a group revenue of £4.801bn for the 12 months to March 27, 2021, up 25.9% from the £3.813bn it achieved during the prior year.
The group's statutory pre-tax profits increased by 108.5% from £252m to £525.5m over the same period while its adjusted EBITDA surged by 83% from £342.3m to £626.4m.
During the year B&M opened a gross 43 stores in the 海角视频 which was offset by 18 closures.
Its Babou brand in France delivered an adjusted EBITDA of £11.1m, up from a loss of £3m, despite the disruption caused by ten weeks of lockdown restrictions.
The year ended with a total French estate of 104 stores, of which 73 now trade as B&M.
The group also added that its cash generated from operations totalled £944.0m, up from £539.5m, while its net debt stood at £519.8m.
B&M also confirmed that it rewarded its staff and invested in its communities through the payment of 'colleague recognition bonuses' in relation to Covid-19 and the creation of over 7,200 new 海角视频 jobs.
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Chief executive Simon Arora said: "The last year has been an exceptional one. Our results reflect the speed at which we responded to the challenges presented by Covid-19, and the strength of our execution.
"The core B&M 海角视频 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 and provide a safe shopping environment.
"We also made strong progress in France, despite many stores being closed for up to ten weeks throughout the year.
"I express my sincere thanks to colleagues across the Group for all of their efforts and determination.
"Looking ahead, there are many uncertainties as society slowly emerges from lockdown and trading patterns are likely to be unpredictable for much of the year.
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"Within our 海角视频 business, we will be up against the strong comparatives from last year but we remain confident that the B&M customer proposition, with its modern network of predominantly out of town stores and value-led variety offer, will prove highly relevant to the needs of shoppers.
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"As such, we are well positioned to support the communities in which we trade, retain the loyalty of new customers, and to continue our store roll-out strategy."
On the group's future Mr Arora added: "The B&M 海角视频 business experienced very strong sales in the last month of FY21, with the final week being the strongest in the group's history and a large contributor to the FY21 adjusted EBITDA outperformance of £626.4m versus the guidance issued on 5 March 2021.
"Overall, year-to-date B&M 海角视频 LFL sales over the first nine weeks of FY22 have been -1% versus FY21.
"Sales in this period benefitted from a pull-forward of gardening demand into April usually occurring more evenly throughout the spring/summer period.
"Trading continues to be volatile at a weekly and product category level, in particular since the recent easing of lockdown restrictions.
"This is likely to remain the case for the whole of FY22, as the business annualises against the very strong comparatives throughout last year.
"As such, the B&M 海角视频 business expects to see a decline in LFL revenues in FY22 compared to FY21, but is focused on delivering a healthy two year LFL versus FY20."