B&M saw an increase in like for like sales, and reported that volumes of general merchandise were “excellent“.

The retailer has reported that sales increased by 5% over its third financial quarter, despite the company experiencing an overall slowdown in growth.

Like for like sales were positive, with a slight increase of 1.2%, despite being compared to a strong selling period last year. Total sales at B&M hit £1.65b over the 13 weeks to December 2023.

The business said it sold “excellent” volumes of general merchandise over the Q3 period. UK sales increased 3.7% to £1.35b while B&M’s French business saw a 11.3% increase in sales. At the group’s Heron Foods, revenues rose 11.7%.

B&M CEO Alex Russo commented: “The performance across the golden quarter has been pleasing, with strong operational execution across the three businesses. Our strategy remains unchanged – we are an everyday low-price discounter with a laser-focus in keeping excellence in retail standards and our costs the lowest. This allows us to provide our products at the best price to all customers, many of whom continue to face significant cost-of-living pressures.”

B&M reiterated its guidance for the year of £620m to £630m.

The value retailer opened 76 new stores in its current financial year and has plans to launch over 45 new B&M UK stores over the next two financial years to drive what it described as “disciplined cash-generating growth”. A further 11 stores are slated for B&M France.

In November, B&M said it was ultimately targeting a retail estate of 1200 stores, a goal supported by the acquisition of multiple outlets from the now defunct Wilko chain.

Following the latest  trading statement, the company has promised shareholders a special 20p dividend that will be paid on February 9th.