Poundland exceeds £1 billion in sales

Poundland has reported that its full year revenues topped £1 billion for the first time after a "solid" fourth quarter of sales growth.

In the 13 weeks to 29 March, total revenue excluding a trial in Spain increased by 7.1% on a constant currency basis.

During the year, total revenue excluding Spain, climbed by 11.8% to £1.1 billion.

Poundland opened 15 new stores in the UK and Ireland during the fourth quarter, taking the total of net new stores to 60 during the 2015 financial year. This meant it ended the financial year with 547 stores in the UK and 41 stores in Ireland.

The company continued to develop its trial in Spain and said it was pleased with initial progress. At the end of the quarter it had five stores in the country and has since opened a third store in Madrid.

Commenting on the financial performance, Poundland chief executive Jim McCarthy, said: "After a solid quarter of sales growth, Poundland's revenue for the 2015 financial year was over £1 billion for the first time. Despite tough trading conditions, Poundland continues to perform well and we served an average of 5.3 million shoppers a week during the quarter.

"We have managed our costs and cash well, and we expect underlying pre-tax profits to be in line with market expectations for the year as a whole. We achieved our target of 60 net new stores in the UK and Ireland and have a very strong pipeline of store openings for the current financial year.

"We expect to continue to deliver our growth strategy in the new financial year, notwithstanding some headwinds from a weaker Euro and a tough comparable in the first half."

Poundland said is continuing to “carefully consider” the UK Competition and Markets Authority's recent announcement that the retailer’s proposed acquisition of rival 99p Stores could be the subject of an in-depth investigation by the watchdog.

Source : The Retail Bulletin
www.theretailbulletin.com/news/poundland_sales_exceed_1bn_14-04-15/