The parent firm of Poundland has said it is continuing to witness extra freight charges and delays due to disruption in the Middle East
The owner of Poundland, Pepco Group, which operates the 864-strong discount brand in the UK, has revealed it’s still grappling with additional shipping charges and delays caused by strife in the Middle East.
But despite this, Pepco has assured it is efficiently managing product availability and does not anticipate any impact on its profits. The turmoil in the Red Sea, where rebel group Houthi is launching attacks amid a decade-long civil war in Yemen, has caused ships to divert away from the area and navigate around the Cape of Good Hope instead, impacting several firms including Pepco.
In another update, Pepco announced a slight drop in like-for-like sales for the previous quarter and disclosed the appointment of an incoming chief executive. From July 1, Stephan Borchert, previously at the helm of Vision Express’ owning group GrandVision until 2022 and before that president of Sephora’s European division, will take up the chief executive role at Pepco.
Based in London, the incoming chief executive said: “I’m honoured to be the next chief executive of Pepco Group which has the opportunity to become Europe’s leading variety discount retailer. Pepco Group is a powerhouse retail business with a strong reputation for delivering incredible range, value and convenience for customers.”
Reporting a dip of 2.9% in like-for-like revenues over the three-month period ending March 31, Pepco released its latest financial report this Thursday. Poundland’s parent company, Pepco Group, has reported an improved performance with total revenues climbing 11.7% on a constant currency basis 1.35 billion euro (£1.16 billion), thanks to a spree of store openings.
Despite the upbeat revenue news, Poundland itself experienced a slight setback with like-for-like sales dipping by 2.8%, although overall revenues still managed to rise by 4.5% to 458 million euro. The firm pointed out that Poundland’s figures took a hit due to a revamp in its general merchandise and clothing lines, switching to Pepco products over the last six months. However, they’ve assured that this period of transition is now “largely behind us”.
Andy Bond, the executive chairman at the helm of Pepco Group, said: “While the trading environment remains challenging, we are encouraged by signs of an improved performance in some of our core Pepco Central and Eastern Europe markets a key geographical region for the group during the second quarter. We expect a continued upward trajectory in like-for-like sales at Pepco in H2.”
