Discount retailer B&M has reported a 108 per cent rise in annual pre-tax profits, beating analyst expectations to hit £525 million for the financial year.

The FSTE 100 listed retailer's revenues also jumped 26 per cent to £4.8 billion, with March being the strongest month in the retailer’s history.

The retailer's 681 UK stores, mostly located in large retail parks, were allowed to remain open during lockdown as they also sell food.

The group increased its final dividend by 140 per cent to 13p a share in response to the high performance, bringing its total dividends for the year to £450 million.

B&M said sales were volatile on a weekly basis, particularly since the Covid-19 restrictions started to ease, a trend which the retailer said it expects to continue.

Many discount retailers in the UK reported strong profits over the course of the pandemic; Lidl recently reported a 17.9 per cent surge in total sales year-on-year during the final four weeks of the year.

"The last year has been an exceptional one," said chief executive at B&M Simon Arora. "Looking ahead, there are many uncertainties as society slowly emerges from lockdown and trading patterns are likely to be unpredictable for much of the year."

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