Poundland Nottingham

Source: The Grocer

Poundland opened its biggest UK store to date in February this year, in Nottingham

Poundland like-for-like sales were up 5.9% across the UK and Europe in its latest quarter.

Revenues of Poundland Group – which includes its sister fascia Dealz in Europe and the Republic of Ireland – climbed 8.6% on a constant currency basis to €467m, according to a second-quarter trading update from its parent Pepco Group.

Poundland Group’s estate grew by 33 stores in the quarter to 31 March, a 6.7% increase year on year.

Its like for likes in the first half to 31 March were up 3.3%.

Pepco Group first-half revenues were up 17.5% at €2,371m, driven by 28.9% growth of its Pepco clothing brand in Europe.

Pepco Group interim CEO Trevor Masters said the invasion of Ukraine was creating “volatility and unpredictability” for the business.

“The market within which we operate is likely to remain volatile in the near term, due to the situation in Ukraine and ongoing global inflationary pressures,” he said.

“However, we have a clear and successful strategy to deliver on our sizeable long-term growth opportunities. In the absence of any further significant deterioration in the macro environment, we remain confident of delivering in line with our profit guidance.”

GlobalData retail analyst Kunaal Shah said Poundland’s UK focus should be its newly developed online proposition, followings its acquisition of Poundshop.com in March this year.

“This online pureplay will provide it with strong infrastructure to continue to expand its online proposition to more cities across the UK,” Shah said.

It should also “open more larger format stores around the UK similar to the new flagship store in Nottingham opened in February 2022, to allow it to showcase more of its product range under one roof”, Shah added.