The parent company of Poundland, Pepco Group, has reported a 17.1% increase in third-quarter revenues as customers hit up discount stores to cope with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
In the three months ended 30 June, revenues rose to €1.2 billion (£1 billion), with like-for-like sales increasing by 4.9%.
Managing director Barry Williams recently told the BBC there is now a “definite dynamic” of shoppers making the move away from the traditional grocers to discounters, with customer numbers up by between 5 and 10% against the same period last year.
Poundland now offers chilled and frozen food in over 250 stores, a figure which is set to rise to over 645 over the next two years, following its acquisition of Fultons Foods and an investment of £25 million.
The company also revealed it is on track to launch 450 new stores in FY22, as part of its plans to sell low-price products amid rising inflation and the cost-of-living crisis.
READ MORE: Poundland opens first convenience store in London
Commenting on the results, Pepco Group CEO Trevor Masters said: “The group has delivered another quarter of good progress and a resilient trading performance, driven by its successful and proven strategy.”
The official statement read: “With inflationary pressures continuing across the wider market, the group is committed to investing in its price proposition and maintaining its market-leading variety discount offering
A “continued focus on reducing the cost of operations” is allowing the group to maintain its price leadership.
“Furthermore, against this backdrop, we are encouraged that the discount market across Europe is now much larger than at the time of the previous financial crisis in 2007-08, which means that a much larger customer base is more familiar with and more frequently shops across this channel.”
The group added that it is on track for another good year, despite trading conditions continuing to be “challenging”.
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1 Comment. Leave new
That’s easy when you increase your prices by am average 30%.