LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - B&M European Value Retail said it made a strong start to the year as it reported first-quarter UK like-for-like sales up by more than a fifth compared with pre-pandemic levels.

Revenue at core B&M UK stores open a year or more increased 21.3% to £1.02bn in the 13 weeks to 26 June from two years before. Like-for-like sales fell 4.4% from a year earlier.

Group revenue rose 3.1% to £1.19bn at constant currency from a year earlier and B&M said its plans for the year were on track. The FTSE 100 value retailer said it expected like-for-like performance in the UK to stay strong.

Revenue at B&M's French business rose 27% to £68.5m from a year earlier with both periods affected by six weeks of lockdown restrictions.

Simon Arora, B&M's chief executive, said: "The group has made a strong start to the new financial year and sales remain significantly above pre-pandemic levels. As expected, trading throughout the first quarter was volatile as we annualised against the high comparatives from last year.

"Although there remains much uncertainty as to how consumer spending evolves over the coming months, we remain optimistic that our combination of exceptional value across a wide range of product categories and our convenient out of town locations will continue to resonate with customers."

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