B&M shares tank as analysts wait for new CEO's update on recent trading
Published: 16:01 04 Jun 2025 BST
B&M European Value Retail SA (LSE:BME) shares were the biggest faller on the FTSE 250, down 14% after the group published final results that analysts said were largely in line with forecasts.
The preliminary results did "not contain many surprises" and were broadly in line with expectations, said analyst Wayne Brown at Panmure Liberum, while the "outlook remains uncertain" he bemoaned that the results did not contain any information on current trading.
However, this absence was in line with the normal reporting guidelines from B&M historically, Brown said, adding that he would not read too much into the absence and imagined that recent good weather would have helped selling of spring/summer stock.
"The shares have done better the past couple months but remain cheap," he said. "Confirmation that underlying trading is positive is probably required for the shares to properly re-rate."
David Hughes at Shore Capital said he welcomed the announcement of new CEO Tjeerd Jegen, who is due to be appointed on 16 June, and brings "a wealth of retail experience".
With B&M's shares trading on a P/E ratio of 9.0 times forecast earnings, he said recent negative LFL sales growth has been "a weight on the share price".
While the delivery of profits for last year in line with guidance is "encouraging" he agreed that "the lack of any news on current trading and the expectations of another year of flat profits are less so".
"We look forward to the first update from Mr Jergen as to where the business goes next."
He had several questions for the new boss, including whether he agreed with the board's target for the optimal number of stores (as management today re-iterated a medium-term target of 1,200 UK stores versus 777 today), price competitiveness, and what are his plans for the non-core business of B&M France and Heron foods.
