Pepco bounces back in Q3 as more stores reopen

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jul 15, 2021

Pan-European budget retailer Pepco talked of a “resilient rebound in trading [with] strategic momentum maintained” on Thursday as it delivered its Q3 results. The group owns Poundland in the UK, Dealz in Ireland and Europe, and apparel-focused Pepco in Europe too.

And it said that the three months to June 30 saw group like-for-like revenue growth of 29.3% and total growth of 46.7% with revenue reaching €1.043 billion. 

The Pepco chain’s revenue rose 37.3% like-for-like and 59.8% in total to €562 million. And Poundland/Dealz rose 21.1% like-for-like and 33.8% in total to €481 million. All of those figures were ahead of the numbers for the first nine months of the financial year.

Q3 had been “the most significantly disrupted” period in the prior year, as a consequence of the pandemic. Some 18.4% of its total trading weeks were lost in the comparative period versus ‘only’ 7.5% this time due to the easing of Covid-related closures. By the final week of the quarter, all stores were trading.

Its store expansion has continued with 342 opened since the financial year started last October. That includes its recent entry into the Italian and Spanish markets via Pepco.

CEO Andy Bond said the firm “made good strategic progress in the quarter as consumers continued to come back following the gradual easing of Covid restrictions”.

But he added that global supply chains “continue to be impacted by both reduced raw material availability and input cost pressure compounded by constrained container capacity, which has the potential to introduce cost inflation starting during the autumn/winter 2021 season”. 

That said, its “unique” Asian direct sourcing operation, PGS, “commands strong direct supplier and factory relationships. This allows us to continuously monitor and quickly take operational action to mitigate potential impacts, and we remain fully committed to being the lowest-price operator in all of our markets”.