Shares in B&M have fallen by almost 11% after the budget supermarket recorded a 13.2% drop in its profit before tax, reaching £431m in the year to 29 March.

The results come after the retailer lowered its EBITDA expectations in February to between £605m and £625m. In its full financial year, its EBITDA increased by 0.6% to £620m.

In this time, B&M's operating profit dropped by 1.8% to £591m, with the retailer stating that this was a result of "higher depreciation" from its asset base.

Furthermore, its net debt increased by 5.9% to £781m, while its earnings per share fell by 6.7% to 33.5 pence.

However, B&M’s group revenue jumped by 3.7% to £5.57bn, primarily as a result of contributions from its new stores.

In this period, the supermarket retailer opened 70 gross new stores across the group, comprising 45 B&M UK locations, 14 Heron Foods stores and 11 B&M France outlets.

In its operational review, B&M stated that the last financial year saw a "challenging UK retail trading environment". Although it had noted the effect of external factors, including heightened consumer caution, limited wage growth and a "very subdued garden season", B&M said its operational execution could have been better.

Looking ahead, the group said its recognises that the current financial year will bring sector-wide challenges, including increased minimum wage costs, higher employee national insurance contributions and inflation on input costs.

It added that the impact of these costs are reflected in its expectations, with its EBITDA set to reach between £569m and £646m, while its operating profit is expected to total between £524m and £628m in the 2026 financial year.

The full-year preliminary results were announced alongside the announcement that B&M had appointed Tjeerd Jegen as its new chief executive officer, who will start in the role from 16 June.

Investment director at AJ Bell, Russ Mould, said that the latest results illustrate a "poor year" for B&M, stating that it should have "thrived" in a period where consumers were cautious about their spending habits.

He also added that the firm should have also jumped at the opportunity to grab extra business from those people who are "trading down from more expensive options".

He concluded: "The imminent arrival of a new CEO cannot come soon enough. Investors will be looking for the new boss to do a thorough review of the business, work out what’s gone wrong, do a ‘kitchen sink’ job and outline a plan to get back on top. B&M is quite a big beast in the world of retail, so this might not be a quick fix.

"The lack of commentary on current trading is unhelpful, leaving investors guessing as to whether the recent sunny weather has driven an improvement in footfall and sales. However, it does allude to ongoing cost pressures, meaning the company needs to make hay while the sun shines.

"For now, it’s a waiting game until the new CEO has time to look under the bonnet and fine-tune the strategy."

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