B&M expects earnings ahead of analysts’ consensus

Shares of Liverpool-based B&M European Value Retail rose 3.5% on Tuesday after it published a positive trading update for the year to date.

B&M is registered in Luxembourg and its shares trade in London, where its stock rose 3.5% on Tuesday to 458p to give the firm a stock market value of around £4.6 billion.

“On 1 July 2020, the group announced that it had made a strong start to the new financial year and, against a highly uncertain economic backdrop and continued impacts from Covid19, B&M was well placed to continue to grow profitably in the UK and continue to develop and prove the proposition in France,” said B&M.

“The group’s current expectation for the six months to 26 September 2020 (H1 FY21) Adjusted EBITDA (on a pre-IFRS 16 basis) is that it is likely to be in the range of £250m to £270m.

“The average analysts’ consensus forecast for H1 FY21 Adjusted EBITDA (on a pre-IFRS 16 basis) is £208.1m.

“There remains considerable uncertainty in relation to both the progression of Covid-19 and the economic outlook and it is therefore hard to predict trading levels for the second half of the year.”