B&M Retail slashes earnings guidance

(Sharecast News) - B&M European Value Retail slashed full-year guidance on Thursday, despite an uptick in festive sales. The embattled budget retailer said its seasonal ranges had sold well, with UK like-for-like sales up 3% in December and similar trends continuing into early January trading. Over the entire third quarter to 27 December, B&M UK underlying sales fell 0.6% to £1.41bn.

Group sales, which include Heron Foods and B&M France, rose 2.9% in local currencies, to £1.74bn.

However, looking to the full year and B&M warned it now expects adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to come in between £440m and £475m, compared to its previous range of £470m to £520m.

B&M said the move reflected "ongoing investments in pricing and clearance" as well as the poor performance of Heron Foods.

The retailer has endured a torrid period. Rocked by weaker consumer sentiment and stiff competition, last year it warned on profits and cut the dividend, while an accounting error led to the departure of finance lead Mike Schmidt.

New chief executive Tjeerd Jegen, who took the helm in June, is now seeking to turn the business around through the Back to B&M Basics programme.

He said on Thursday: "We are identifying opportunities to make deeper investments in clearing discounted lines, to support planned reductions in SKU (stock keeping unit) count, and to clean up stock as well as restore on-shelf availability.

"As with our pricing actions, these are investments in the long-term strength of B&M, but they do impact near term financial performance."

However, he insisted: "The reset...is necessary to rebuild the long-term value of the business. I remain confident that the actions we are taking will restore sustainable like-for-like growth at B&M UK over the next 12 to 18 months and provide a strong foundation for future growth."