B&M saw its shares jump nearly 16% today after reporting FY26 results that pointed to early progress in its turnaround strategy, despite a sharp fall in profits during the year.

Group revenue increased by 3.6% to £5.8bn in the 52 weeks to 28 March, supported by growth in both the UK and France. B&M France delivered particularly strong performance, with sales rising 13.4% and market share increasing to 8.4% of the French discount sector.

Adjusted earnings fell 25.9% to £459m, while adjusted profit before tax declined to £284m from £455m a year earlier, reflecting weaker trading margins and higher operating costs in the UK. However, free cash flow improved to £321m and net debt reduced, with leverage returning to the company's target range.

The retailer opened 64 new stores across the group during the year and completed its redomicile from Luxembourg to Jersey, which it said would provide greater flexibility for future shareholder returns.

The company’s ‘Back to B&M Basics’ plan, launched in October last year, acknowledged the need for improved operational execution.

"FY26 was a difficult year that saw profits fall due to a challenging market and execution issues," CEO Tjeerd Jegen said.

"FY27 remains a year of investment as we work hard to deliver growth under Back to B&M Basics and balance new store growth with investing in our store formats under Phase 2 of our strategic plan. We are confident we can offset rising energy costs in the year ahead through cost mitigation, the benefits of which will flow through to our bottom line once we have returned B&M UK like-for-like sales to growth."

Judging by today's reaction, investors welcomed signs of operational recovery, with shares rising to around £1.97 a share.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, commented on the results: "Expectations were so low for B&M after a string of profit warnings that they may as well have been underground. A set of results with a hint of encouragement was enough to fire the share price higher. Profit and earnings plunged as costs soared, but there was nothing new in the numbers to spook investors."

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