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Discount retailer B&M European Value Retail reported a rise in first half profit and said it expected stronger performance in the second half of the year ahead of the key Christmas period.
For the 26 weeks to 25 September 2021, pre-tax profit rose 2.4% to £241.4 million as revenue increased 1.2% to £2.27 billion.
The half year dividend increased by 16.3% to 5.0p per share.
Looking ahead, the company said that having performed strongly in H1 FY22, the B&M UK fascia business would annualise even higher comparatives from FY21 in H2.
In the first six weeks of Q3, one-year like-for-like sales fell 8.9%, as the prior year six week period saw 'highly elevated sales due to unusually early Christmas trading,' the company said.
On a two-year basis versus pre-pandemic levels of FY20, like-for-like sales had been up 14.7%.
'In terms of gross margin, although the return of Seasonal markdown activity did not materialise as expected in H1, it is too early to accurately predict the extent to which this remains a feature in H2,' the company said.
'It will largely be determined by demand levels for Seasonal products seen over the peak Christmas period, and this will be a key driver of the full year outturn.'