Poundland owner appoints advisers amid sales slump
The owner of Poundland has appointed advisers as it looks to explore its options amid a decline in sales at the discounter.
Pepco Group – which has owned Poundland since 2016 – has drafted in consultants from AlixPartners, Sky News has reported.
Sources told Sky News that Pepco Group’s options could include a formal restructuring process, which may involve the closure of a number of stores or an attempt to sell the business.
It is understood that no decisions have been taken, and that the group’s immediate focus was to improve Poundland’s cash performance and customer proposition.
Poundland – which trades from 825 stores in the UK – recorded sales of roughly £1.69bn last year. However, Warsaw-listed Pepco group revealed last week that the retailer saw a decline in like-for-like sales of 7.3% during the Christmas trading period.
Pepco had said that the retailer had faced “a more difficult sales environment and consumer backdrop in the UK, alongside margin pressure and an increasingly higher operating cost environment”.
The group added: “We expect that the toughest comparative quarter for Poundland is now behind us – the same quarter last year represented a period prior to the changes made within our clothing and GM [general merchandise] ranges – and therefore, we expect the negative sales performance for Poundland to moderate as we move through the year.”
Stephen Borchert, the chief executive of Pepco, is expected to set out formal plans for Poundland’s future at a capital markets in March.