B&M has posted increased sales during its first quarter which boss Simon Arora hailed as its “third consecutive record Easter trading period”.

The value retailer registered a 21.4% increase in group revenue to £967.6m during the period from March 31 to June 29.

B&M UK like-for-likes increased 3.9%, up from an increase of 1.6% for the same period last year as revenue grew 13.8% to £738.9m.

The group’s convenience store chain Heron Foods’ revenue increased 8.1% to £93.1m during its first quarter and “continues to trade well on top of good performance in the prior year”.

In Europe, Jawoll, the German arm of the business, posted increased sales of 8.1% to £63.1m and “solid” like-for-like growth as its French business, Babou, generated sales of £72.6m during the first quarter – but has no comparable period.

The discount retailer expects to open 50 new B&M stores and between 15 and 20 Heron Foods stores during the financial year.

B&M chief executive Simon Arora said: “The group has made a solid start and we are on track with our plans for the year as a whole, with a strong performance in the B&M UK business and continued implementation of our planned change programmes in Germany and France, with a continued focus on resolving the warehousing and logistics challenges in Jawoll.

“B&M had its third consecutive record Easter trading period with sales of seasonal products and homewares performing particularly well and Heron Foods has traded solidly too.

“The transitional changes to the product offers in Jawoll and Babou are now taking shape, as we apply the B&M model to those businesses. We look forward to the remainder of the year with confidence.”

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