Overview

• Full-year EBITDA is now guided at £510 million to £560 million, well below prior analyst expectations.
• B&M forecasts around £198 million in half-year underlying earnings, down 28% year on year, after a 1.1% Q2 decline in UK like-for-like sales.
• Management highlighted roughly £30 million in additional wage costs and a £14 million hit from the Extended Producer Responsibility packaging tax in the first half.
• Chief executive Tjeerd Jegen launched a 'Back to B&M Basics' plan to cut prices, streamline ranges and increase promotions, with effects expected over 12–18 months.
• Shares fell as much as 17% in early trading, and the company guided second-half sales growth to a range from low single-digit negative to low single-digit positive.