FOURTH QUARTER TRADING STATEMENT
Solid fourth quarter trading; full year in line with market expectations
Poundland Group plc ("Poundland" or "the Group"), Europe's leading single price retailer, today announces its fourth quarter trading statement for the 13 week period to 29 March 2015.
Headlines for the 2015 financial year
· Total sales, excluding Spain, increased by 11.8% (2014: 12.7%) on a constant currency basis
· Like-for-like sales increased by 2.4% (2014: 1.9%)
· 60 net new stores opened in the UK & Ireland, as planned
· Spanish trial is proceeding to plan
· Underlying pretax profits expected to be in line with market expectations*
Revenue for the 12 months to 29 March 2015
For the 12 months ending 29 March 2015 total revenue, excluding Spain, increased by 11.8% on a constant currency basis (2014: 12.7%) and by 2.4% on a like-for-like basis (2014: 1.9%). On an actual currency basis, total revenue, excluding Spain, increased by 11.4% (2014: 13.3%) to £1,111.5 million (2014: £997.8 million).
During the fourth quarter, total revenue, excluding Spain, increased by 7.1% on a constant currency basis (2014: 13.9%). On an actual currency basis, total revenue, excluding Spain, increased by 6.5% (2014: 14.4%) to £255.0 million (2014: £239.5 million). This represents a solid performance against a strong trading period in the previous financial year. As we have previously highlighted, due to the timing of store openings, the contribution from new store trading weeks this year has been lower than last year and this continued to be the case in the fourth quarter. As planned, we opened ten fewer stores in the year as a whole than in the previous year and this was also a factor in a lower contribution to sales growth from new stores in the quarter.
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