B&M European Value Retail group revenues increased by 25.9% to £4,801.4m

B&M European Value Retail S.A. (LON:BME), the UK’s leading variety goods value retailer, has announced its Preliminary Results for the 52 weeks to 27 March 2021.

HIGHLIGHTS

·      Group revenues increased by 25.9% to £4,801.4m (FY20: £3,813.4m), 25.7% on a constant currency basis¹

·      B&M UK fascia² revenue up 29.9%, including like-for-like³ (“LFL”) revenue growth of 23.8% within which H1 was 23.0% and H2 was 24.5%

·      Group adjusted EBITDA⁴ (pre-IFRS16) increased by 83.0% to £626.4m (FY20: £342.3m) with an exceptional adjusted EBITDA⁴ margin of 13.0% (FY20: 9.0%) driven by higher sales densities, an elevated gross margin due to lack of markdown activity and operating leverage in the core B&M UK business

·      Group statutory profit before tax, stated post-IFRS16, increased 108.5% to £525.4m (FY20: £252.0m) with statutory diluted earnings per share 42.7p (FY20: 19.5p⁶)

·      43 gross new B&M UK store openings, weighted towards H2 following initial delays caused by Covid-19 at the start of FY21, offset by 18 closures

·      Babou delivered an adjusted EBITDA⁴ of £11.1m (FY20: £(3.0)m), despite the disruption caused by 10 weeks of lockdown restrictions.  FY21 ended with a total French estate of 104 stores, of which 73 now trade as “B&M”

·      Cash generated from operations of £944.0m (FY20: £539.5m), reflecting EBITDA growth and tight working capital discipline

·      Year-end net debt⁵  of £519.8m, with net debt⁵ to adjusted EBITDA⁴ leverage ratio (pre-IFRS16) of 0.8x (FY20: 1.0x), comfortably within our stated leverage ceiling of 2.25x

·      Rewarded colleagues and invested in the communities we serve through the payment of colleague recognition bonuses in relation to Covid-19 and the creation of over 7,200 new UK jobs

·      Recommended final dividend⁷ increased by 140.7% to 13.0p per share (FY20: 5.4p), bringing the full year ordinary dividend to 17.3p per share (FY20: 8.1p), at the top end of our ordinary dividend pay-out policy.  This is in addition to £450m of special dividends⁷ paid in FY21

Simon Arora, Chief Executive, 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 UK 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.  Within our UK 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.  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.”

Financial Results

1.   Constant currency comparison involves restating the prior year Euro revenues using the same exchange rate as that used to translate the current year Euro revenues.

2.   References in this announcement to the B&M UK business includes the B&M fascia stores in the UK except for the ‘B&M Express’ fascia stores. References in this announcement to the Heron Foods business includes both the Heron Foods fascia and B&M Express fascia convenience stores in the UK. When reporting adjusted EBITDA, B&M UK also includes the corporate segment as referred to in note 2 of the financial statements, and includes an adjusted loss of £(1.5)m (FY20: £(1.9)m).

3.   Like-for-like revenue relates to the B&M UK estate only and includes each store’s revenue for that part of the current period that falls at least 14 months after it opened compared with its revenue for the corresponding part of the previous period. This 14 month approach has been adopted as it excludes the two month halo period which new stores experience following opening.

4.   The Directors consider adjusted figures to be more reflective of the underlying business performance of the Group and believe that this measure provides additional useful information for investors on the Group’s performance. Further details can be found in notes 3 and 5 of the financial statements.  Adjusted figures exclude the impact of IFRS16.

5.   Net debt comprises interest bearing loans and borrowings, overdrafts and cash and cash equivalents. Net debt was £519.8m at the year end, reflecting £737.5m as the carrying value of gross debt netted against £217.7m of cash.  See notes 18, 21 and 28 of the financial statements for more details.

6.   Statutory diluted EPS for FY20 reflects continuing operations only. Including discontinued operations, FY20 statutory diluted EPS was 9.0p.

7.   Dividends are stated as gross amounts before deduction of Luxembourg withholding tax, which is currently 15%.

8.   Net capital expenditure includes the purchase of property, plant and equipment, intangible assets and proceeds from the sale of any of those items.  These exclude IFRS16 lease liabilities.

Analyst & Investor Webcast and Conference Call

An Analyst & Investor only webcast and conference call in relation to these FY21 Preliminary Results will be held on Thursday 3 June 2021 at 09:00 am (UK).

The conference call can be accessed live via a dial-in facility on:

UK & International:       +44 (0) 330 606 1118

US:                               +1 646 394 9697

Room number:             596070

Participant PIN:            2969 

A simultaneous audio webcast and presentation will be available via the B&M European Value Retail corporate website at www.bandmretail.com