Liverpool-based B&M European Value Retail said on Thursday its group third quarter revenue revenue grew 2.9% year-on-year (YOY) to £1.737 billion and year-to-date (YTD) revenue grew 3.6% year-on-year to £4.486 billion.
In a trading update for the third quarter of its current financial year, the 13 week period to December 27, 2025, B&M said: “B&M UK delivered Q3 total revenue growth of 1.9% and like-for-like (LFL) sales of (0.6)%, with positive LFL growth in December of 3.0% following low single-digit LFL declines in October and November.
“Early January trading has seen a positive LFL trend continue, with a good customer response to our clearance events across seasonal ranges and discontinued lines.”
However, in its outlook and guidance, B&M said: “We are revising our financial guidance downwards and now expect FY26 Group adjusted EBITDA (pre-IFRS 16) to be between £440m to £475m, versus our previous guidance of £470m to £520m.
“The downward movement in range is driven by ongoing investments in pricing and clearance, improvements in stock quality and the financial underperformance of Heron Foods, where we continue to review and reposition our customer offer.
“We remain confident the actions we are taking can restore sustainable LFL growth at B&M UK over the next 12 to 18 months, which is an essential foundation of the Group’s future growth.”
B&M CEO Tjeerd Jegen said: “We entered our Golden Quarter sharper on price to reinforce our value proposition with our customers. Price investment has continued, particularly in FMCG, and while the full benefits will take time to come through, I am encouraged by the early signs of like-for-like (LFL) sales growth at B&M UK late in the quarter.
“This includes the strong sell through of our seasonal ranges, which contributed to 3 percent UK LFL growth in December, with similar LFL trends continuing in early January trading.
“As we progress Back to B&M Basics, we are identifying opportunities to make deeper investments in clearing discontinued lines to support planned reductions in SKU count and to clean up stock as we restore on-shelf availability towards industry benchmarks.
“As with our pricing actions, these are investments in the long-term strength of B&M, but they do impact near-term financial performance.
“As a result, we are revising our full-year guidance downwards to reflect these actions and the financial underperformance at Heron. We now expect FY26 Adjusted EBITDA (pre-IFRS 16) to be in the range of £440m to £475m, compared with our previous guidance of £470m to £520m.
“The reset we are driving through Back to B&M Basics is necessary to rebuild the long-term value of the business and these workstreams continue to progress at pace. Actions on FMCG SKU count and on-shelf availability are now moving out of their initial pilot phases and towards implementation across all stores later this year.
“I remain confident that the actions we are taking will restore sustainable LFL growth at B&M UK over the next 12 to 18 months and provide a strong foundation for future growth.”