Pepco Group hails resilient first quarter trading
Poundland owner Pepco Group saw its total group revenue climb by 12% year-on-year in its first quarter which was its strongest ever period for new store openings.
The group launched 161 stores in the quarter including 146 for PEPCO and 15 for Dealz.
During the period, Poundland‘s like-for-like sales rose by 1.5% as the retailer introduced range improvements in general merchandise and clothing, expanded its multi-price penetration to 41.5%, and introduced a new chilled and frozen offer to a further 52 stores.
Meanwhile, PEPCO’s like-for-likes were flat due to trading being impacted by supply chain disruption and the widening of Covid-19 restrictions across some of its markets. However, total sales rose by 20%.
Andy Bond, chief executive of Pepco Group, said: “It is particularly pleasing that despite the supply chain and demand challenges presented by Covid, which impacted trading across the peak season, the strength of the consumer proposition of all three of our brands ensured that we delivered a resilient trading performance.
“We believe that the supply chain pressures that impacted our first quarter will now subside. However, given the broader inflationary pressures faced by our core consumer, we are committed to supporting them by preserving the majority of our existing price points and therefore strengthening our price leadership position.”
The group said it remains committed to its existing full year profit guidance.
Bond, who is due to step down as chief executive shortly, said: “I will leave at the end of March confident that we have a clear growth plan and strong capability to deliver our long term-term profit growth aspirations, both this year and well into the future.”
