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B&M had only recently announced a ‘decisive plan’ to return the business to growth

B&M’s CFO has told the board he will step down, after a £7m accounting error forced the company to downgrade its profit guidance for the 2026 financial year.

Mike Schmidt, chief financial officer and former interim CEO, will step aside once the company has found a successor, and the board will commission a “comprehensive third-party review”. The board said it “wished him well”.

The blow to B&M’s top team has come just weeks after new CEO Tjeerd Jegen launched a “decisive plan” to find growth and renew investors’ faith in the ailing business. Shares are at a near-record low of 217.6p, down 39% so far in 2025.

The accounting error came about after approximately £7m of overseas freight costs were incorrectly identified in the cost of goods sold, following an operating system update earlier in the year. While the issue has been resolved, B&M has had to downgrade its outlook for group adjusted EBITDA to £470m-£520m for FY2026, compared to the previous estimate of £510m-£560m.

Group adjusted EBITDA in H1 will be approximately £191m, compared to previous guidance of £198m.

The company’s life-for-like sales will be the principal determinant of where B&M UK’s EBITDA outcome falls within this range. B&M has reaffirmed its assumption of a second-half like-for-like percentage growth rate of “between low-single-digit negative and low-single-digit positive levels”.

B&M said it continues to expect it could achieve low-double-digit EBITDA margins for B&M UK if it manages like-for-like growth.

B&M said it would provide a further update to the accounting error on 13 November alongside its interim results.

At the start of October B&M revealed EBITDA had sunk to an estimated £198m – now expected to be £191m – in the 26 weeks to 27 September, down from £274m in the same period a year ago. UK like-for-like sales returned to growth in Q1 2026 after falling for four consecutive quarters in FY2025.

The company’s ‘Back to B&M Basics’ business plan, announced alongside the results, will focus on cutting prices, refocusing its ranges and ensuring strong product availability in stores.

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