B&M European Value Retail will publish interim results on 12 November 2026, a key test of the turnaround plan under chief executive Tjeerd Jegen, with the shares close to a 52-week high. It has also promised to give profit guidance for the year at those results.

What happened

B&M (ticker: BME) is a constituent of the FTSE All-Share index, and AJ Bell's data page lists it in the Consumer Defensive sector as a value retailer. Its latest filing was a major holdings notice on 14 October. An AI-generated summary on says BlackRock's interest moved from 10.64% to 10.65%. No results are published today.

Interim results for the 26 weeks to 26 September are due at 07:00 GMT on 12 November, according to another such summary. Two other recent filings stand out. Mr Jegen bought 165,477 shares for about £385,000 on 7 September at about £2.33, according to a summary of that notice. And on 23 September the company named Mike Iddon, formerly finance chief of Pets at Home, as a non-executive director from 4 January 2027.

The base investors are measuring from

The last full-year results covered the 52 weeks to 28 March 2026. Revenue rose 3.6% to £5,775m, but adjusted profit before tax fell 37.7% to £284m from £455m. The ordinary Dividend was cut to 9.6p from 15.0p. Mr Jegen called it "a difficult year that saw profits fall".

The damage was concentrated in the core chain. B&M UK like-for-like sales fell 0.1% and adjusted EBITDA dropped to £395m from £545m, taking the Margin to 8.6% from 12.2%. France was stronger, with like-for-like sales up 2.9%, while Heron Foods' adjusted profit fell to £4m from £14m.

Post-tax free Cash Flow rose to £321m, and net Debt before leases fell to £656m from £781m. Leverage on that basis was 1.4 times, inside the 1.0 to 1.5 times target.

Why it matters for investors

The first phase of the plan, labelled "Back to B&M Basics", aims to restore UK like-for-like growth through sharper pricing, better promotions, leaner grocery ranges and better availability. The company has said it sees no reason why B&M UK cannot return to double-digit EBITDA margins over the medium term.

That is an ambition rather than a forecast, and the distance from 8.6% is significant. Management expects to offset higher freight, fuel and energy costs, with benefits arriving once UK sales return to growth. That makes the like-for-like figure the key number in our view.

The share move adds pressure. Expectations appear, on our reading, to have risen since the chief executive's purchase, so any disappointment on UK sales may be felt more sharply. The move of its legal home to Jersey in February also opened the way to future buybacks, which investors may raise.

How the shares have performed

AJ Bell's page, with its latest trade dated 2 November, quoted 282.80p to sell and 283.20p to buy, up 8.40p or 3.05% from a previous close of 275.40p. Prices there are delayed by at least 15 minutes.

The year's range was 140p to 287.20p, so the shares have about doubled from the low and sit just below the high. They are also about a fifth above the price Mr Jegen paid in September. Market Value was listed at £2.85bn, with a Dividend Yield of 3.49% and a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.90.

What to watch next

Beyond the UK like-for-like, the 12 November statement should deliver the promised switch to guidance based on adjusted profit before tax. The first Store 2.0 format was due by the end of the second quarter, and reductions in grocery lines were scheduled to finish in the third.

Any comment on Capital returns and the interim dividend, which was 3.5p last year, will be the other item to read.